Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps
by liarfaker
Summary: Game on. Two Mikaelson brothers, one girl's heart to win. Damon wants to have some fun at their expense. Things get more and more complicated... and that's how we like it. A/N: As the story progresses, it gets closer and closer to the dark side. Beware.
1. Prologue

**A/N: **This it a prologue to the sequel. Yup, *THE* sequel. But if you haven't t read my story "Off with your head", no worries. You'll get the most of it ;)

Reviews appreciated. I want to know when I'm good, and of course when I suck at writing.

**IMPORTANT:** This is for **you,** guys. Thank you for all your reviews, story/author alerts, messages etc. If you smile even a little bit while reading these products of my (lately overactive) imagination, my mission is complete.

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

_Welcome to Mystic Falls, a picturesque town located in the southern area of Virginia._

_Southern in its hospitality, northern in its attitude._

_A place where history meets the present._

_A place that compels your attention._

_A place where you would like to start-_

"Seriously, and I had to stab him in the stomach, because apparently as a doppelganger I belong to the supernatural team by definition." Elena poured herself more coffee.

-_a family._

_We thirst for new blood; come and join our extraordinary community!_

"Yuck!" Caroline grimaces.

"Yeah."

* * *

><p>They were sitting in Caroline's kitchen. The morning sun was already high in the sky and the girls were soaking every ray of sunshine that entered the room. The blonde vampire couldn't even imagine her life without the sun. It was essential.<p>

Night is for secrets, day is for living.

And with all her non-beating heart she loved to live. She was still wearing her pink pajamas, but Elena, just in her tracksuit, appeared no more appealing than Caroline, so they both looked totally casual, sloppy, and oh! they enjoyed it.

They enjoyed every little bit of normalcy they could get.

Elena used to come to Caroline more and more frequently, because obviously now it was her only friend left. Bonnie still claimed she needed more time to get over her mother's transformation. Elena would love to give the witch all time in the world, but she didn't have so much. So Elena decided to hang around with Caroline which wasn't such a bad idea, considering Caroline's latest... issues.

The blonde seemed different lately, she was spending a lot of time at the cemetery, standing over her father's grave. She told Elena that she needed to remember him for who he was, not for who he became. The doppleganger didn't understand it at all, but you know what they say, the less you know the better.

Nobody was supposed to know about the unfortunate _accident_ that happened to Bill Forbes.

Nobody, except for the Mikaelson brothers.

They had invaded her life like a newly-discovered continent, burning all the native villages to the ground, colonizing her thoughts, capturing her attention. Little by little, the Forbes Empire was falling apart. Klaus had her mental equilibrium sacrificed on a makeshift altar of her (_their_?) momentary weakness. Her peace of mind had been offered to an anonymous god of everlasting chaos and confusion.

On top of all that, she had a weird dream in which Kol was turned into a _llama._

"How's Tyler?" Elena asked, stirring her coffee and catching Caroline off her guard.

"Tyler? Tyler is... Tyler. Which means absent." She lowered her gaze and was now staring at a cookie bowl standing on the table between Caroline and her guest. Once her friends had called her a cookie monster, she remembered. Now cookies were gone, monster remained. What an irony.

"How are you dealing with this?" Elena tried to be supportive.

"Weeks of practice and I'm getting better and better at it. Every. Day." Caroline sighed bitterly.

"Yeah. Tell me about it."

They both sat in somber silence for a while, each immersed in their own thoughts.

"And what's new in the Salvatore realm?" Caroline asked, waking from her reverie.

"Well, basically, Stefan feels _paaaaaain_ every time he tries to care, and Damon-" She hesitated. "And Damon is back to being old good -that means bad- Damon."

"They both still love you, you know that." Caroline took a sip of coffee, grimaced, and added some more sugar.

Elena nods.

"I always thought it was awesome, you know. Two brothers fighting over you. I was so jealous." Caroline confessed. That was right, she'd tried so hard but it was never her. She had never been _the one._

"Really? There's nothing fun about it, believe me, Care." The brunette sighed and looked at the window.

Mornings mean new beginning, they always bring a ray of hope. The sun was shining so bright she had to squint her eyes.

"I know, now I know. I mean, one boyfriend means trouble, so what happens when there are two of them?" Caroline joked half-heartedly.

"And when you love them both," Elena grew somewhat gloomy, "you're_ screwed_."

Caroline wondered how it was possible to love two men at the same time. What is love, anyway? Need for companionship? Friendship with benefits? Affection, tenderness? Lust?

As a vampire, she experienced many emotions she had never felt before as a human. Moreover, it was hard to even differentiate love from hate sometimes.

Her life was now an emotional roller-coaster without any safety handrail to hold on.

* * *

><p><em>Welcome to Mystic Falls, a magical place where your life will change forever.<em>

_And forever is a very long time._

_Welcome to a place where the most secret wishes come true._

_So be careful what you wish for._


	2. Bad Boys

**A/N: **Here we go! Honestly I can't wait for the chapter 2, I have something planned.

Review if you feel like. I hope you do. *wink*

When it comes to the lyrics I used, the credits go to the author. I owe nothing, except for my lovely red mp3 player.

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

**BAD BOYS**

_Bad boys, bad boys, watcha gonna do, _

_watcha gonna do when they come for you? _

_(Bob Marley - "Bad Boys")_

In every man's life there's a woman that makes his world topsy-turvy. A woman that proves to be his undoing. A woman that brings pain and destruction to his mind. Her seductive charm overpowers even the most powerful men in the world.

Helen of Troy.

Cleopatra.

Delilah.

Greek Siren.

Morgan le Fay.

Catwoman.

A woman that turns his life upside down.

A femme fatale.

Nietzche said once that women make the highs higher and the lows more frequent.

It was completely and blatantly true when it came to Klaus. He's been overpowered by a young woman, a rookie vampire.

He was sulking by the fireplace in his favorite armchair in the living room.

It was 5 o'clock in the morning. He still couldn't sleep. He'd spent all night wondering, pondering, speculating, analyzing, and mulling over possible ways to approach the girl.

He loved a good challenge and she hadn't disappointed him yet.

* * *

><p>In every woman's life there's a bad guy whom she resists and who later becomes her obsession.<p>

Caroline hated it but still she'd seen with her own eyes how Damon managed to sneak up on Elena and mess with her head. And heart. And pants too, possibly.

The moment when Klaus almost kissed her - _twice_! - was also the moment when she decided to mentally and emotionally grow up. Fast.

She needed it, otherwise he could have done what he wanted. And we all know that usually everything starts with a secret glance, then sort of casual touch, then a kiss takes place, then there's momentary passion, a fleeting wave of desire - and all common sense, all reason is _lost._

She needed to be wiser than that.

* * *

><p>It was a busy evening at the Grill. Matt and the other members of the staff were rushing from one table to another. There was nothing people could do in a small town on days like this to entertain themselves. There was no disco nearby, but this didn't worry the local authorities much. They knew what could be happening if someone opened up a club there. Blood, more blood, and even more blood. Alcohol. Fighting. And sex, of course, teenage sex was the worst part.<p>

Mayor Lockwood put her tea cup down on the table which meant she's serious about the offer. She always did that while negotiating. Her polished nails were almost digging into the table. This time she was preparing a charity event for the local kindergarten. She knew whom to call.

"So, Caroline, have you been busy lately?" She asked nonchalantly.

_Not at all, just regular vampire drama plus some Original brothers that kept pestering me_, Caroline thought.

"Not really." She smiled. The blonde knew what was coming.

"I would like you to help me to organize a charity event. I know you have a flair for it. I hope you'll be the committee leader." Carol returned a smile and looked at Caroline expectantly.

"Sure. What we are raising money for?"

"Kindergarten."

"Cool."

"The committee meeting takes place tomorrow about noon in my house."

"I'll be there."

They didn't know what to add.

Mrs. Lockwood eventually coughed and started her investigation.

"You don't happen to know where my son is, do you?" Her tone of voice changed from sweet and polite to dreary and somewhat... threatening?

"I'm sorry." Caroline shook her head.

"I'm sure you are." Tyler's mother said, looking at the empty cup. Caroline knew that Carol was frustrated and overwhelmed by losing all the men in her life because of the werewolf curse.

"I'm still waiting for him." Caroline whispered.

"And I'm still watching your every move." The mayor declared.

Caroline couldn't say they'd had a great start. First the mayor had caught her sneaking out of Tyler's room after having sex, then Tyler became a werewolf and Carol couldn't stop herself from blaming Caroline, no matter how absurd it seemed. Then her son decided to leave Mystic Falls, leave home, leave his mother, to do, as he put it, _something_ for Caroline, because he _loved_ her. It was too much to bear for Carol Lockwood. She was a real over-parenting femivore, a strong woman who cared for her kind-of-aristocratically wealthy family and for the only member of Lockwood family she had left, her beloved and only son. Everything supernatural that happened to Tyler was immediately put on the blonde vampire's scorecard.

Caroline knew about Carol's feelings and decided to tolerate the nasty moods of her monster-in-law. Well, at least her would-be-and-maybe-future monster-in-law.

"See you tomorrow then. I'm counting on you." With her friendly smile on again, Tyler's mother got up, and left. Talk about mood changes.

_Yeah, I'm counting on myself too_, Caroline thought, fiddling with her fingers.

* * *

><p>The Lockwood Mansion always impressed her and time didn't change it. Caroline smoothed her formal little black dress that Audrey Hepburn would be jealous of. Her hair were done in a bun and black eyeliner accentuated the blue of her eyes. She looked perfectly professional since it was the first step to <em>actually<em> be a professional. She came ahead of time to establish some details before the committee would gather. Considering charity events, Caroline Forbes was an old trouper.

She swaggered into the house and headed towards Carol's office. She didn't know how many volunteers were going to take part in the fund raising, but she hoped her committee was human enough to compel them if situation required it. Oh c'mon, you know, the end justifies the means.

She burst into the room.

And stopped dead.

"Hello, love." Klaus?

"Caroline." Kol.

Both wearing suits and ties. Looking _so_ _ho_- No! Merely decent, that's how they look, she chided herself.

"What are you doing here?" Caroline hissed through gritted teeth, trying to smile innocently at the same time. Of all the nerve!

"These gentlemen were kind enough to come to our assistance and support our charity work." The mayor granted them with her most adorable and charming smile. They smiled back. Caroline wanted to vomit. All that sweetness and light.

"Klaus has also donated a considerable sum for our kindergarten." Mrs. Lockwood kept on praising them.

"Did you?" Caroline raised an eyebrow and gave him a suspicious look.

"Yes." Klaus confirmed, smiling directly at the blonde.

"We _love_ donations." Kol's stare was a meaningful one.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure you do, Kol." She bit back.

"So," Carol continued, looking classy in her tight-fitting, purple suit. "I'll leave you with the Mikaelsons for a minute so you can settle some rules and exchange ideas. I hope the kids will benefit from your cooperation, gentlemen. I'll be back in a moment." Another lovely smile, and she was gone.

"Ok, _minions_." Caroline spat, making them both cringe. "I don't care why you are doing that, I suppose - no, wait, I'm sure! - that there's already something evil on your agenda, but this is MY JOB. You will _not_ ruin this." She recited the words like she had them prepared, like, since childhood.

"We await your bidding." Kol smirked and bowed. She felt her insides burning with rage.

"If any of you disturbs my work, I promise I'll make you crawl." Her narrowed eyes, frown, and top lip slightly curled upwards indicated that the blondie wasn't joking.

Klaus was so amused he dared to chuckle.

"But Caroline, dear, we're doing this out of the goodness of our hearts." Kol faked a concerned tone.

"But Kol, a dagger suits your heart better." She retorted sardonically and Kol's confident smile faltered. Then she moved her glower to Klaus.

"We are going to the committee meeting now. You agree with me on everything, Tyler's mother is happy to have us to organize the event, my job is done, the money is spent, hallelujah." She stated and went out of the room. She swayed her hips, balancing on her high heels. Both brothers just stood there, following her with their eyes.

When Klaus made sure she wasn't able to hear them, he moved quickly and pinned Kol to the wall. The desk next to them shook from the impact.

"What are you doing here?" Klaus muttered darkly. Kol seemed unmoved by his brother's outburst, a poker face put on.

"Why so nervous?" He asked, his expressionless voice irritated Klaus even more.

"How _dare_ you ask me why?" The older Original was gradually losing his patience and self-control.

"I'm here to go down in history as a generous benefactor of mankind." Kol smiled slyly.

"Well, well, well, look who's a do-gooder now." Klaus was still holding his brother by the collar of his shirt.

"And look who wants to get into her pants through a charity box." Kol mocked the hybrid.

A cruel smile crept on his face.

"You think she'll go to bed with you _out of charity_?"

Klaus hit him in the nose. Hard. The annoying Original fell to the floor.

"What?" Kol sneered. "Too soon for a charity joke?"

"Are you here to spite me, or to charm the pants off her?"

"The second option would be the closer shot." Kol answered, rubbing his nose and getting up.

"Why can't you fancy the doppelganger like everyone else?" Klaus scowled.

"Where would be the fun in that, dear brother?" The younger one cast him a triumphant glare.

* * *

><p>The committee meeting didn't go as (Caroline) planned.<p>

She barely said a word, almost didn't hit up on any idea. Klaus and Kol took the lead.

An auction? Fantastic idea, Mr. Mikaelson!

Oh please, just call me Klaus.

_Oh please, kiss my ass,_ Caroline grimaced and mimicked him in her mind.

Polite smiles, charming smiles, and winning smiles.

The committee was totally swooned by the Originals and Caroline was sitting totally mad at them. They took over _her_ leadership!

A karaoke competition? Wonderful, Kol!

_Seriously? Kol came up with a karaoke contest?_ Caroline pouted. She was sucking her teeth and intensely thinking of any activity that would help to collect money. _Think Caroline, think!_

Parent-child teams? We're all for it, Mr. Mik- Um, Klaus!

Giggles.

Dance? A party? Oh we'd love to end the event with a party!

Food prepared by our skilled Mystic Falls housewives? Brilliant!

Caroline began to tap her foot on the floor, under the round table the members were sitting at. The furniture in the Lockwood Mansion was impressive. The splendor and lavishness of the interior tremendously astounded her.

''I think the schedule is complete. Now I hope that all these ideas will win Miss Forbes' approval.'' Klaus shot her an endearing smile. Kol nodded.

''O- of course.'' Caroline coughed. _I think I'm going to choke._

''Then we better start working! There is a whole week of hard work waiting for us!'' Mrs. Lockwood clasped her hands enthusiastically. The meeting came to an end, and soon Caroline was the only one left in the room.

All the ladies, except for Caroline of course, were incredibly excited about the forthcoming charity day. 'Miss Forbes', as Klaus called her, didn't share the common avidity. She wanted to cut off the Mikaelsons' heads and throw the bodies into a garbage can. Then she would kick the heads around the town and-

Something derailed her train of thoughts. She lifted her eyes only to see a smiling face of her favorite Original hybrid who managed to destroy her love life, and her life in general. He leaned down. She hated being _that_ close to him.

''I can't wait to see you all dolled up for this charity party.'' Klaus whispered seductively into her ear and reached to touch her hair lightly. She could swear she got goosebumps all over her skin.

_Dolled up, you're saying? _Caroline's brain was working now at full steam. A wicked plan was born. _You_ _betcha_.


	3. Thank God I'm pretty

**A/N**: I LOVE you guys. I am moved to tears. When I have more free time (now I sleep at most 5 hours at night and it hurts because generally I'm a sleepyhead) **I'll respond to the reviews, questions and comments**. Pinky promise!

PSSST! So far I have at least 10 chapters already planned, and it's not even a half of what I want to do. The drama, intrigue, some fun stuff as well.

I hope you stay tuned, review, and yell at me if something's wrong etc.

Last but not least, the story is rated** M** for a reason. *wink wink* Good things come to those who wait :)

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

**Thank God I'm pretty**

_I'm blessed_

_With the ability to render grown men tongue-tied_

_Which only means that when it's dark outside_

_I have to run and hide_

_Can't look behind me_

_Thank God I'm pretty_

_(Emilie Autumn - "Thank God I'm pretty")_

The charity day was approaching like an ominous hurricane. Caroline could swear she was seeing dark clouds over her head. She avoided the Mikaelsons all week, divided work among people in a such way that they barely met during preparations. What's more, she had to prepare herself for the operation she wanted to conduct.

She called it a "Barbie Mission."

Caroline remembered why boys used to reject her affections. The reason was, basically, that she was the human Caroline Forbes. Irritating, insecure, shallow, vain, bossy... Yeah. She sighed. Ever since she became a vampire, she found her strength, she changed emotionally, her moral code shifted from _'boy+girl=sex'_ to _'boys=trouble',_ she talked too much, listened not enough.

For boys it was as repulsive as garlic to vampires. Those old-school, cliche vampires from the made-up stories, of course.

She was going to let the Originals have a taste of old unbearable Caroline.

Klaus and Kol didn't exchange a word since the charity day started. During a parent-kid competition they just sat down, each in a place far away from kids, and they waited for something interesting to happen. Interesting i.e. a blonde vampire (not being their sister) coming around. Obviously they didn't complain about the lack of female company. The ladies were all over them, but who could blame the girls if two young and handsome men in perfectly fitting black suits, white shirts and casually hanging skinny ties were so close. Both with a few days' stubble. _Oh the stubble._

Disco music was blaring out around the park, people were having a lot of fun. Families, young couples, and those who were single and came there for a hunt. Carol Lockwood couldn't be happier with all the money that was falling into the charity box. Every event in Mystic Falls was an occasion for the community to gather and unite for a good cause. As history had proven many times, the local events usually ended up as tragedy backgrounds. Caroline hoped it wouldn't happen this time. When she entered the town park, she saw the Salvatores strolling around the party area.

They were obligated to work as the jury in baking contest in which Mrs. Lockwood also took part. It was her shot at mingling with townspeople. The muffins she made were tasty and 100% vervain free, the Salvatores happily commented to each other.

* * *

><p>Elena sat down on a bench and observed the crowd. There was a lot of things to do at the charity party. The sun, light wind, cloudless sky. The weather was ideal for an event like this. People seemed to enjoy themselves. She couldn't. Stefan and Damon were having another bonding-time and she was left alone, probably for her own good. She just hated being alone.<p>

Then a shadow crept up to Elena and she jumped, almost falling off the bench.

"Hey." Caroline hugged her friend and smiled.

"Hi." Elena choked.

Caroline was looking like a monster. Elena had never, never seen such a monstrosity in her life (apart from herself in the morning after an all-night party).

Young Gilbert girl looked her friend up and down.

Caroline was all pink. Pink tight cocktail dress, pink pumps (how can she walk in those heels?), pink nail polish, pink lipstick, pink earrings.

_The epitome of Barbie-ness._

"Caroline. You look-"

"I know. But there's a reason to everything I do, Elena." She threw Elena an enigmatic look and swagger away.

"I hope you do." Her friend pouted.

* * *

><p>The Original brothers met at the table where a bowl of punch was. They poured themselves impressive amount of punch and were about to split without saying anything to each other <em>(childish much? naaaaah.)<em> when they heard an oddly high-pitched voice.

"Look who's here."

They saw the most... pink?... smile they'd ever seen. The two stood there, rendered speechless.

"Ca-Caroline?" Kol coughed on his drink. She was unusually upbeat and perked up. _Was she high?_ She was beaming at them with her goofy smile and Klaus could swear her eyes were emanating stupidity.

It must have been her evil clone. There was no way she...

"Could you pour me a drink?" She fluttered her eyelashes. _I need some booze if I want to pull this off,_ she thought.

Klaus handed her a glass full of orange liquid, staring at her the whole time, wondering whether it was one of his awful nightmares, or even the worse reality.

"You look... different." Klaus mumbled.

"I know, isn't it sweet?" She looked at her dress and touched her perfectly curled hair. "It took me about three hours, can you believe it?" She g iggled.

"You _seem_ different." Kol added. Caroline ignored him.

She looked around, concerned.

"What's wrong, love?"

"Has anyone seen Mr. Poppet?"

Kol and Klaus exchanged knowing looks.

"Who is he?" Kol asked carefully.

"My chihuahua? Duh." The blonde pouted at him.

"Anyway, I've got something planned for _you_." She grinned.

"I expect you two on the stage in, like, fifteen minutes. Wait, NO!" She hesitated, raising her hands dramatically, her eyes wide.

"Make it twenty." She pointed an index finger at them, winked, and wandered off.

The Mikaelsons gulped simultaneously. Her zest was disturbing, if not terrifying.

* * *

><p>It was 5 pm when Caroline Forbes held the floor. The Originals were waiting by the scene, along with a few other guys. Somethings was up, they could feel it.<p>

"Ladies and gentleman!" A squeaky, cheerful voice resounded in the park. "I have the pleasure to conduct the annual charity bachelor auction!" The crowd cheered, the ladies around almost fainted.

Klaus couldn't believe he was stupid enough to get conned into this.

Kol was estimating his chances to run away and hide somewhere among candyfloss sticks.

After half an hour, Barbie Monster already sent three bachelors to hell, meaning they ended up as dates for some _desperate housewives._ And it's not a metaphor.

Little did they know that a fate much more cruel was awaiting the Mikaelsons.

* * *

><p>Klaus was bought by the elderly ladies from the local retirement home. He had to spend one evening there, playing bingo with the grandmas. <em>Oh joy.<em>

Kol's fate wasn't any easier. The pre-school teachers teamed up financially and won one day of Kol's assistance in the kindergarten. He dreaded the vision of himself dealing with small, irritating girls wearing pink tutus. _Is killing kids prohibited? _

"Ain't that terrific?" Caroline squeaked, definitely excited.

"Stupendous." Kol muttered.

* * *

><p>Klaus couldn't let her get away with murder. And yes, she literally murdered his badass reputation. Grannies? Bingo? Cards? <em>Seriously?<em>

He found Carol Lockwood standing by a fountain. She smiled at him warmly.

"Mrs. Lockwood, I need you to do something for me." He looked mysterious. If the blonde wanted a pink war, she'd get it.

* * *

><p>Caroline stepped down from the scene but Mayor Lockwood grabbed her by the wrist and whispered, "Please, stay."<p>

The girl politely nodded, not moving away, just waiting for the blow. A vicious expression on Klaus' face told her he was going to retaliate. To keep up the appearances, she simpered like a halfwit at him. It was strangely too easy to remember what she used to be like. It gave her creeps.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, the last part of the auction." Carol grinned from ear to ear.

"You have an opportunity to win a romantic dinner with our one and only Miss Mystic Falls!" She cheered and the crowd gave her an ovation.

Caroline also thought it was a great idea and clapped her hands enthusiastically.

Wait. A. Minute.

Hold on.

Um.

_She_ was Miss Mystic Falls, wasn't she? And she was sure there wasn't anything in the event schedule that was written in a fine print.

Who the hell did this to her? She looked from the stage at the celebrating people. Two guys were smirking directly at her.

_Oh, riiiiiight._

Suddenly she felt like she was walking the plank.

"The starting price is-" Mrs. Lockwood didn't have the opportunity to finish.

"One thousand dollars." Klaus cut in. The crowd listened to him with a great astonishment.

"Two thousands." Kol raised the stake.

"Make it three."

"Four and a half."

"Five."

Caroline was standing in the middle of a high wooden scene, and she prayed for a knight in shining armor. It was crazy, they couldn't just bid against each other in an auction. They couldn't just bid for _her_.

* * *

><p>Damon was standing in the back, watching the whole scene with growing amusement. What was wrong with the Originals lately? They were acting like two horny teenage boys pursuing and pestering a pretty face. Ok, throw in a nice pair of boobs and a hot ass, too.<p>

As the bidding war progressed, the older Salvatore started to comprehend what was going on there. He chuckled inwardly.

The Originals infatuated with the neurotic self-proclaimed _commander-in-pink?_ Impossible! Alert the media.

People's stupidity never ceased to amaze him. The most powerful vampires in the world were losing their heads (unfortunately, only in figurative sense) for a crazy, jumpy Barbie. Not having anything better to do at the moment, Damon's head filled up with diabolical ideas. Two brothers fighting over a girl? _The story has a familiar ring to it_, he thought. The blonde would never fall for any of them, so why not to play a little bit of dirty tricks on the hybrid and his sidekick little brother?

Mischievous grin appeared on Damon's face. He would love to share his experience with the Mikaelsons.

Hell yes, he would.

* * *

><p>Caroline squeezed her eyes shut. They were still bidding up.<p>

_Please, don't let any of them win, please, please, plea-_

"...final time! Fifteen thousand dollars!" The townspeople gasped. "The date sold to... Mr. Klaus Mikaelson! Congratulations!" Carol enthused. The crowd applauded the winner.

Caroline's heart sunk down like Titanic. Klaus happened to be her own deadly iceberg.

He went up to the stage, took Caroline's hand and kissed it gently. Then he looked up to her, his lips still lightly touching the back of her hand.

"You almost fooled me this time." He whispered. "But you know what gave you away?"

She shook her head, incapable of choking out a word. Klaus straightened and leaned forward.

"The way your face looked when I started bidding up." He hissed to her ear.

"And don't try to discourage me with all that pink attire. If you insist on playing a Barbie so badly, I could, as well, easily _undress_ you like a _doll."_ He smirked, his eyes never leaving hers.

''I'll pick you up tomorrow at 7.'' And then he walked away.

_Like a boss._

She stood there open-mouthed, so taken aback, and so startled she didn't even blink.


	4. Gentlemen aren't nice

**A/N: **this chapter is dedicated to my amazing fiancé who's probably reading it right now (gotcha!). You're the best thing that has happened to me in my life.

Ok, enough with my love propaganda, here we go with ch.3. I hope you like it, my lovely readers!

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

**Gentlemen aren't nice**

_Once or twice we went around_

_But now I'll tell you the thing I've found_

_You shouldn't make your move until you know the price_

_Because gentlemen aren't nice_

_(Emilie Autumn - "Gentlemen aren't nice")_

Kol was so proud of his new hammock. He strung it between two trees that grew in the backyard of their mansion. In his loose jeans and a green t-shirt saying 'I'm the guy your mom warned you about' he looked like a normal, cocky youngster.

He was slightly swinging in the hammock, enjoying the last days of nice weather, reading a book. Not any book. Not a crappy romance his sister used to read. Not a detective story where the victim turns out to be the killer too.

He was reading a-

"Dictionary? Seriously?" Damon chuckled.

Kol didn't even move his eyes from the book.

"_No_ _diggity_. What are you doing here still in one piece?"

"I came to smoke a peace pipe with you."

"Did you bring a white dove of peace as well?" Kol still wasn't looking at the Salvatore. Damon, wearing all black like any decent villain should, pressed his lips together in a fake, tight smile. Then he saw the full title of the book.

"A _slang_ dictionary?" He raised his eyebrows.

"I'm _pimpin_' my _vocab_. Any problems with that?" _Wow_, Kol felt like a real gangsta.

Damon fought a nasty smile that was creeping on his face.

"Not at all." Damon smirked. "Dude."

"So waddaya want?" Kol's question made Damon roll his eyes. That guy was really doing it wrong.

"I heard your hybrid brother is making advances towards our Blondie."

That caught Kol's attention, finally. His eyes met Damon's.

"So what?"

"I can't really say I approve of that."

"Nobody's asking for your opinion." The Original spat. "Dude."

"I thought we're on the same side here." Damon frowned.

"Why would I want to team up with you, _crackhead_?"

"Because I know how to pick up a girl, and most importantly, how to pick up THE girl." Damon played his trump card.

Kol's eyes lit up, but the poker face stayed on.

"Go on."

"I dated Caroline." Damon knew Kol was getting more and more interested.

"She's a tough cookie. That crazy brother of yours just needs to keep his hands off her. And I think you and I see eye to eye about them dating." _Indeed, but because of different reasons_, Damon knew that.

"_Fo_ _shizzle_." Kol just made his uninvited guest cringe, but Damon still tolerated the slang.

"So what would you say about us spoiling his fun a little?" Damon knew he got Kol there.

"Hell to the yes, then." Kol grinned evilly.

"Let's have a drink at the Grill later, we'll discuss the details." The older Salvatore offered.

"_Crackalackin_."

"Mikaelson?"

"Yup?"

"Stop it." Damon said and turned to leave. _This is what you get if you lie for a century in a coffin!_ _You end up mentally disadvantaged for the rest of your life_, he thought.

Kol looked up a word in his dictionary and muttered,

"Fuck nut."

* * *

><p>The red one? Nah, too provocative.<p>

The green one makes her look fat.

Any black dress was too formal.

Caroline's head was going to explode, and contrary to popular belief, she _did_ _have_ some brain to splatter over the walls. The whole charity-date thing was giving her a severe migraine attack.

The last days of autumn were warm and sunny, so she wanted to make the most of it, but still there was this tiny little _detail_ that wouldn't let her enjoy herself - her date happened to be a thousand years old mass murderer who liked to paint horsies. Yes. Horsies. Not the best thing to gossip about with her school friends during lunchtime. If she had any normal friends, of course. Right.

She gritted her teeth.

_-ring ring!- _

A phone ringtone threw her off balance - she heard a ridiculously exaggerated British accent saying-

_-an idiot is calling!-_

Damon? What did he want from her (again)?

"What?" She didn't waste her time on unnecessary greetings.

"Blondie! Ready to take the vampy-doggie for a walk?"

"Not funny."

"Let's try again. Ready to feed the vampy-doggie?"

"Still not funny." She sounded far from amused.

"Where are you going to spend this _incredibly romantic_ evening?" He inquired with his typical irony. "I don't want to miss it, I mean, it's almost like... Oscars." She could imagine him wiggling his eyebrows.

"Don't you even dare-"

"You can run but you can't hide." He sang and hung up.

"Argh! Jerk!" She yelled to the wall.

* * *

><p>Damon hung up and shoved the cell phone into his pocket. He was heading to the Grill, feeling fulfilled and pleased to be able to cause some trouble.<p>

_This is how I roll._

He sat down at the bar, got the whole bottle of whiskey (why to spare yourself?) and waited. He knew the young Mikaelson would come. The boy fell for the whole story hook, line, and sinker. _Let's spread some good old chaos,_ Damon thought contented.

* * *

><p>Caroline Forbes looked at herself in a tall mirror in the hall. A low cut, knee-length white dress with a floral pattern seemed innocent enough, but still feminine and enticing. She didn't have any idea why she bothered herself with the dress dilemma at all.<p>

She sat down in the kitchen and looked nervously at a clock on the wall.

6.42 pm.

She eyed her nude pink ballet flats. She examined scrupulously her nails, painted black. She checked her eye make-up and lipstick, looking into a pocket mirror.

6.43 pm? What the hell?

She didn't want to go to a restaurant with him. If he wanted a date, they would do it her way.

* * *

><p>"<em>Yo<em>. I'm here, let's get down to business." Kol sat next to Damon and poured himself a shot. "Why do you go so _batshit_ on the whole dating thing?"

"_Batshit_?" Damon sighed. "Seriously?"

"You know, go _bitchcakes_? _Flip a dick_?" Kol explained with the dead seriousness. His commitment to - oh, well - linguistics totally astounded Damon.

"I don't flip anything, especially my-"

"What-eva."

Damon started to suspect that Kol was, in fact, mental.

He gulped down his whiskey quickly and decided to negotiate anyway.

"I don't want your murderous hybrid brother involved with her." Damon said. Kol raised an eyebrow.

"And why is that?"

"What part of _'your murderous hybrid brother'_ is so hard to understand?"

"And why should I help you?" Kol asked slyly. He wondered what Damon knew about the rivalry between him and his brother. Did he knew that Kol wanted not only to spite Klaus but also to get the girl?

Damon grinned viciously.

"I know how it is. Hating your own brother, I mean." He said. "You may pretend that your loyalties are with your family, but the first thing that comes to your mind in the morning - the thing you're getting more and more _obsessed_ with - is... how to put a spoke in his wheel."

"Still it's not a reason to help you."

"Yes it is."

* * *

><p>6.59 pm.<p>

_Knock_, _knock_. Caroline jumped from her chair. She opened the cupboard and checked the supplies. They would suffice. They had to.

She opened the door and saw Klaus wearing a black buttoned shirt and semi-formal suit. _Nice_.

No! Not nice! She scowled herself. Not. Nice.

"Good evening." He said politely, looking her up and down with hungry eyes.

_You bet_, she thought.

"I'm not going anywhere with you." Caroline stated and saw his face changing in a second.

"You're joking, right?" He asked her with a grave tone of voice.

"No. We're not going anywhere. I called it off."

"You called the restaurant?"

"Yes."

"This is-" He glowered.

"Come in." She cut him off.

* * *

><p>"So you two dated?" Kol tried to sound casually. The music at the Grill and some shots of whiskey finally made him loosen up a little.<p>

"Yeah."

"_Cramazing_."

"Man, you have to stop." Damon shook his head. "You sound like a loser."

"It's slang, isn't it?" The Original eyed Damon suspiciously.

"You are thousand years old vampire. One of the oldest vampires in the world using _slang_ is an oxymoron. And by the way it doesn't mean 'a kind of moron'." Damon grimaced.

"How clever of you." Kol snarled.

"What happened to the world while I was lying in the coffin, daggered?" He continued.

"I know millions of educated words yet I cannot communicate with people by using them."

"Consider them your own cool slang." Damon said and downed another glass of whiskey on the rocks.

"_Cool_ _beans_."

* * *

><p>Klaus' eyes widened as Caroline led him into the kitchen and handed an apron.<p>

"Pink apron? I'm not into kinky stuff." He warned her half-seriously.

"It's not-" She huffed. "Oh my God!" _What a jerk_.

"What? Too soon?"

"Even _never_ would be too soon."

Caroline tied her own apron around her waist and got to the cupboards to get the ingredients.

"What are we doing, love?" His tone softened.

"Making dinner." She didn't look at him as she scanned the content of a shelf.

"This is our date?" He choked. He'd paid fifteen thousand dollars for a cooking lesson? Is there a doctor here?

"That's right!" Caroline put a bag of flour on the table.

"I hope you like pancakes." She smiled and opened the fridge to get some milk and eggs.

* * *

><p>"Why did you date her?" Kol asked. He was curious. He knew perfectly well that the older Salvatore was a total jerk towards women. The case of Rebekah only proved his point.<p>

"It was the time I moved to Mystic Falls, she was still human then. I needed a blood bag, needed some entertainment." Damon looked into his empty glass and reached for the bottle. Empty, too. He compelled the bartender. Third time this evening.

"So I thought," He rambled on, "Why not to combine business with pleasure, you know? And I picked her up, she was practically _begging_ for it." He chuckled.

_I should've found a girl-slave too_, Kol thought. However, Caroline seemed so different now. It took a second for Damon to go on again.

"Then Katherine turned our barbie girl into a barbie vampire. And things changed. They are fine now, so I don't want them to be screwed again."

Kol was taking in his every word. Interesting. One by one, the pieces started to fit into the puzzle.

"I want you to spy for me. Interfere sometimes, if necessary." Damon declared, eventually.

"You think you can trust me?" Kol smirked.

"Not at all. But you have nothing to lose and so do I." Damon retorted.

* * *

><p>He scattered flour all over the kitchen, accidentally.<p>

She laughed so hard when he scattered it also on his pitch-black shirt. It was simply hilarious. Now he looked like a Dalmatian, all black and white. Or Mr. Zebra. Or a really pissed off panda.

His hurt pride made him throw some flour at her. She squeaked and retaliated with another cup of flour.

A war broke out. They were throwing flour at each other, running around the kitchen using their vampire speed, acting like seven years old kids. Caroline's dress was stained with flour, his elegant clothes no longer looking formal. Her bare shoulders became as white as chalk. They just invented a phrase 'to paint the town _white.'_

When there wasn't any ammunition (flour) to shoot, she threw an egg at him. He ducked to the right and the egg crashed against the wall. Then he took one as well and threw it at her. It landed on her (already covered with flour) dress.

Target hit!

He expected her to throw a tantrum but she burst out laughing. He cracked a laugh, too.

_I'm invincible, hah_! Then an egg hit him right in the forehead.

Take it!

When there was only one egg left, they called a temporary ceasefire.

"What a mess." She pouted.

"I'll help you clean it up, love." He offered, looking like a wholemeal bushwhaker. His hair was dripping with egg white, his shirt looked like it couldn't be saved, and there was a white flour spot on the tip of his nose. She started to laugh out so loud her voice was probably heard in the woods.

Before she even noticed what she was doing, Caroline reached forward and wiped the flour off his nose.

The blonde paused when she realized that she was probably going insane and withdrew the hand. Was she going insane by having fun with her enemy? _Having. Fun._ She didn't remember when she laughed so genuinely for the last time. She really enjoyed this evening. And he was nice, damn it.

_Angry thoughts,_ she reminded herself, _keep thinking angry thoughts._ He's a bad kitty! Um, bad hybrid, bad! _Tyler good, Klaus bad! _

"My mother will stake me." She gulped, looking around only to find more damage in the kitchen. "Let's get down to work."

* * *

><p>After short period of time - vampire powers come in handy often - the kitchen was cleaner that it had been before the fight.<p>

They were sitting by the table, eating toasts with strawberry jam. So much for a romantic dinner with candles and serenades.

Caroline remained silent, waging her inner war against her hormones and sentiment. Klaus didn't say a word because he was afraid she'd get scared and kick him out if he put moves on her. She seemed completely freaked out, but it also showed that he had influence on the girl.

When they finished, she cleared her throat.

"My mom will be back from work soon. I think-"

"Of course." He nodded.

She walked him to the doorway in silence. He opened the door and stepped out, but before she could shut the door, he turned to her.

"This was worth much more than fifteen thousand." He said with a small smile.

"Y-you're welcome." She uttered, looking down at her feet.

Then she shut the door, dashed to the bathroom and took a long, ice-cold shower.


	5. Riverside

**A/N: **Well. A hangover kinda... hangs... over me? So bear with me this time, my lovely readers, pretty please. I love every single review. Feel free to leave a note, even if it's only "ok" or "sucks." In a week or so I'm having a few days free from uni. It means writing and responding and some more writing. yay

Lyrics: a heartbreaking song "Riverside" by Agnes Obel.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

**Riverside**

_Down by the river by the boats_

_Where everybody goes to be alone_

_Where you won't see any rising sun_

_Down to the river we will run_

* * *

><p>Caroline Forbes woke up with a sick feeling in her guts. She was dreaming about flour and Klaus all night. They were making a snowman out of flour, to be specific. She thought she was going insane. Last night they were acting like two kids, they had so much fun, it felt so... human.<p>

_That was a bad, bad idea, Caroline._

She should be thinking about Tyler right now, she reminded herself.

She should be waiting for him like Penelope for Odysseus. Well, Odysseus was unfaithful to his wife during his long journey, but Penelope was strong enough so it was impossible to find fault with her. That's what Caroline planned to remain - _flawless_. She would not be the one that disappoints the others. She had done it so many times before. Now it was new her, smarter and stronger.

She should be looking for him.

Caroline jumped out of her bed, picked up her black tracksuit with "bitch" written on the back of her hoodie, and jogged to Bonnie's house.

A witch could help a vampire in distress.

A friend could help Caroline in distress.

* * *

><p>Bonnie was sitting on her soft red carpet, mysteriously concentrated.<p>

Caroline was just plain impatient. She was fiddling with her fingers and counting Bonnie's spell books on the shelf next to the window.

"No signal." The witch said, eventually.

"Maybe he's busy. Try again." Caroline didn't really get the grasp of Bonnie's witchy slang.

"No, Caroline. He's out of range."

"You're telling me that he switched himself off?" The vampire huffed.

"Rather that he doesn't want to be found." Bonnie's said, sympathetically. The locating spell didn't work out. He certainly wasn't dead, but he didn't want to be disturbed, that's for sure. Maybe somebody - a witch - was helping him to remain hidden from the world and from Klaus.

* * *

><p>The blonde was in the woods on her way home when somebody caught up with her.<p>

"That's really all I need. Damon the Jerk." She raised her voice and rolled her eyes. Seriously? The day had just started, and she had to put up with a troublesome Original crap of a cook, her absent boyfriend, _and_ a deranged casanova?

_God's just testing me._

"Hello, Blondie. How are you?" He slurred with a fake British accent and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Peachy. Thanks. Get lost." She didn't even looked at him, just kept on walking.

"How was your date yesterday?" Damon didn't give up easily. He never did, it was his main fault, and seldom if ever, a virtue.

"Good." _One step, two steps, keep on walking Caroline, don't let him distract you._

"I see you took my advice." The Salvatore grinned. She had to look at him, taken aback.

"What advice?" She frowned, confused.

"When I told you to get a new boyfriend." He snarled. "I just didn't expect it was going to be the bad guy that had ruined your good guy."

Then a hand came out of the blue and hit him hard on the left cheek. His eyes got wide with surprise. His cheek burned for a moment.

"You say this shit one more time, I swear I will scratch your _oh-so-expressive_ eyes out." She hissed and turned away ready to go home.

"Easy here, what's got your fangs in a twist?" He tried to sound neutral.

"I will give you good advice, Damon." Caroline looked him straight in the eyes.

"Go and fuck some Original blonde. Then go and fuck that bitch Katherine. Then, please, go fuck yourself." She turned on her heel and went away.

Damon smirked triumphantly to himself. He liked when his plans were going as he wanted them to.

* * *

><p>She was feeling so upset, so desperate, so miserable that she bought seven bottles of a cheap wine and one of a cheap champagne. <em>Get this party started<em>, she mused as she sat by the river, near the Wickery Bridge.

It was getting dark already and she liked the cold wind blowing lightly. Technically she didn't feel the cold, but she liked to pretend she did. The grass was wet from the evening dew and Caroline felt her tracksuit pants getting damp as well. She didn't care, as a vampire she never got sick.

She frowned and took a large gulp from the first bottle.

She never got sick as a vampire. Her mom didn't make her hot cocoa anymore. She didn't bring her hot tea anymore. Caroline didn't lie in her bed all day watching TV and skipping school anymore.

Then she realized she opened the second bottle. _Well, bring it on._

Tyler was MIA all the time. She wanted to snuggle into him, tell him she missed him, tell him about what she was going through when he was gone. She wanted to spend days with him, lying by the riverside, telling jokes and bantering flirtatiously with him, then hide somewhere and make out. She missed his touch, his lips on hers, his warmth, and his strength.

The third bottle was half-empty when she thought about her human life, her human insignificant problems, her human dreams that now would never come true.

_Oh my God _

_I see how everything is torn _

_In the river deep_

_And I don't know why I go the way_

_Down by the riverside _

Four bottles later, she hugged her knees tightly and burst out in tears, hiding her head in her arms.

* * *

><p>Kol was standing on the Wickery Bridge, looking for any trace of white oak. Rebekah was off somewhere with Elijah, and left his brother only a note with an order to keep searching for the fatal wood. The youngest of the Mikaelsons didn't understand the haste in which Rebekah and Elijah acted. They left him alone with Klaus, who was going crazy, most probably. Last night he came back home covered in flour. What was worse, he was smiling to himself like a maniac.<p>

Then he saw her.

Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls, the head cheerleader, a _Barbster_ (a word he coined for the mix of a Barbie and a monster. He was incredibly proud of his linguistic skills he improved thanks to the slang dictionary).

Was she crying?

Was she drunk?

What the hell?

* * *

><p>"Stop crying like a baby." Kol lied down next to her, propping himself with his elbows.<p>

"Go away." She said. Then she burped.

"Come on." He frowned. "You're a disgrace to all the vampires in the world. Crying like a spoiled kid."

"I would rather say like Kuzco when he was unexpectedly turned into a llama," she sniffed loudly and Kol grimaced. "And was sitting alone, abandoned in a jungle."

"Who's Kuzco?"

"Gosh! Don't you ever watch any Disney movies?" Caroline looked at him scornfully.

"A man turned into a llama? How pathetic is this?" Kol didn't hide his disgust.

"And a man turned into a vampire takes it to a whole new level, right?" She jeered. "What's the difference? I see none." _Oh man, the world was spinning around her._

"So you're sitting here and crying because you consider yourself a llama?" The Original stated bluntly.

"No. I'm sitting here and crying because I've lost my old life and it tears me apart." Caroline spat bitterly.

"And when I just think some things are going to be okay, your brother appears out of nowhere, sires my boyfriend to him, and Tyler runs away, abandoning me in the process, to-" She hesitated, partially because she saw two Kols in front of her.

"To deal with his problems." Caroline let out a breath. "I would love to be turned into a llama instead, believe me." _Now he had three eyes. Funny._

"It's touching how you pity yourself. How you feel sorry for yourself." The Original said, not bothering to be delicate about the matter. "But I have bad news for you: you're never going to have a normal life, so get over it. Get over yourself, Caroline." Kol lashed out.

"Your brother is way better at pep talk." The blonde pouted. _The ground seemed to be spinning, too._

"It doesn't seem so, considering your current state." He smirked.

This kept her silent for a second. Or maybe it was too much wine, because her eyes were shut tightly. She looked like a girl who was having fun riding on a merry-go-round, but then the carousel started to spin faster and faster, and the girl just wanted to throw up on her white metal horsie.

Caroline lied down and curled herself in a ball. She was hugging an empty bottle of wine tightly.

"I wanted to get married. Have kids. Win the Miss Mystic Falls contest for grannies." A tear rolled down her cheek. It made Kol want to vomit, too.

"Get married? All the fun about the marriage is that it ends eventually." He said. "The real marriage that people used to believe in, a state of _mind_ rather than a formal marital status confirmed by a crappy document.'' He took a look at the bottles lying on the grass. ''Could you seriously swear to a man that _'till death do us part' _thing now? Vampires are supposed to be immortal. Could you really, _really_ be with somebody for all the eternity?" He raised his eyebrows and threw her a questioning look.

"Wow, I never thought you're a romantic type." Her eyes opened and she eyed him, surprised.

"Because I'm _not._ I'm just showing you the logic stemming from those funny religions the mortals have been practicing since, like, forever. For us, vampires, it's simply pointless." He took the bottle from her and sighed when he saw that it was empty.

"During previous centuries I've hunted and killed a thousand or even more brides." He licked his lips and grinned evilly. "Guess how many of them were virgins? Not a single one." Kol winked at her.

Caroline's stomach turned over.

"You're sick." She scolded him and got up. Or at least she tried, because she lost her balance and fell down on her butt. The girl let out a cry of despair and lied down, sprawled on her back on the damp grass.

"Let's get your fine ass back home." Kol snorted, picked her up, and carried her home piggyback style.

* * *

><p>They were a few meters away from her home when she woke up and stirred on his back.<p>

"Kol."

"What?"

"I think I'm gonna pu-"


	6. When you're evil

**A/N: **Ok guys, we're going to** quicken the pace** starting from now. This is a prelude. Next two chapters are going to be packed with evil deeds and love turbulence. We all want it. Let me know what do you think about this chapter.

Thank you all for the support! Oh, the reviews make my poor writer's heart so happy! :) I love you, guys, really love you.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

**When you're evil**

_I'm the fear that keeps you awake_

_I'm the shadows on the wall_

_I'm the monsters they become_

_I'm the nightmare in your skull_

_I'm a dagger in your back_

_An extra turn upon the rack_

_I'm the quivering of your heart_

_A stabbing pain, a sudden start._

_(Voltaire - When you're evil)_

* * *

><p>They say, Fate is a bitch.<p>

They say, it is blind and cruel.

They say, you can't run from it.

Some say, you can't control it.

Wise men say, there's no such thing as destiny.

Wiser men say, don't you ever underestimate Fate.

* * *

><p>A circus came to Mystic Falls, along with a funfair, with loud annoying music, and with a lot of yelling and bickering kids. What's not to love here?<p>

There was one particular person in the town who couldn't miss any traveling circus around.

"Elena! Wait." Caroline sighed while her friend was tugging on her sleeve to go faster.

"Come on, Caroline. It's fun!" Elena seemed unnaturally hyperactive. Generally brooding and gloomy, that day she was acting like it was a federal holiday. Caroline was, of course, very happy to see her best friend smiling and elated, but still Elena's sudden change of mood surprised her. The young miss Gilbert was one step from being _euphoric_.

Caroline, on the other hand, wasn't feeling too well. It was not only hangover that was bothering her. A painful realization was nagging her. She had to face the Originals soon, all because of her madcap drinking spree. Enough to say, she had to return his t-shirt to Kol. C_lean_.

The blonde was so ashamed of crying on his shoulder, pouring out her troubles like he was a friend. Spilling her guts – _literally_ - to him. To a vampire psycho boy.

While she was thinking about her own stupidity, Elena disappeared and then returned with a candyfloss on a stick.

"He's coming back to town." Elena said, chewing on her candy.

"Jeremy?" Caroline raised her eyebrows, smiling.

"Um. No. Elijah?" Elena lowered her eyes and kept staring at the ground.

"How do you know that?"

"I received a letter from him yesterday. He's coming back." She still seemed ashamed of what just escaped her mouth.

"And that's why you're so upbeat today?" Caroline looked at her with confusion. Yet another Original to deal with. He was honorable and gentlemanly, but don't forget that Klaus could act that way too. It doesn't mean they're good guys, because - to put it simply - they're not.

"I just enjoy the funfair, Caroline." Elena defended herself with the most lame excuse she could make up.

"Sure you do." The vampire smiled convincingly and looked around, searching for any Original to avoid.

* * *

><p>Klaus and Kol, still doomed to tolerate each other, also went to the funfair. Not to enjoy the games and merry-go-rounds, not really. They both had a blonde vampire to follow, although neither of them admitted it.<p>

Kol didn't ask his brother about the night when Klaus came home covered with flour.

Klaus didn't ask Kol about last night, when his younger brother came well past midnight without his shirt on.

Nobody suspected that there was one unstable and unpredictable female standing behind that two situations.

Kol's eyes fleetingly met Caroline's, but she quickly disappeared in the crowd. _The prey sensed the hunter_, he thought and smirked viciously. If there was anything that he enjoyed more than killing and feeding, it was a good _hunt_.

Without saying a word, he left his brother in front of a fortune-teller's tent and ventured into the crowd.

Klaus glanced towards the tent.

He was bored.

Then he threw a second glance.

Wait a minute.

A cunning and evil plan was devised in his wicked mind.

* * *

><p>Caroline needed to free herself from Elena, if only for a minute or two. They were arguing over the Originals and the brunette didn't seem to grasp the basic idea about them.<p>

"They. Are. Evil." Caroline hissed for the thousandth time.

"No, just some of them."

"Just five of them." The vampire crossed her arms defiantly.

"Elijah-"

"He might act like a meek and mild man with scruples, but he's been around for a thousand years! He tore out so many hearts you can't even imagine! They are all the same. Klaus compelled Jeremy to commit suicide, for God's sake! Kol attacked Matt. Rebekah would love to stake you after cutting off your limbs! And if Esther needed you dead for the ritual, she would kill you without thinking twice." Caroline panted with exasperation.

Elena had to admit it, the blonde was right. But there was something about Elijah that made Elena delude herself.

Caroline didn't wait for her friend's response. She just turned around and hurried away, entering the first tent she encountered. She was fuming with anger.

She looked around.

It was dark inside, only a flickering wan light of a candle was lightening the room. Caroline instantly felt insecure and took a tentative step back. There was something there, something ominous, something sinister that was telling here to get out in a hurry. But just when she reached to open the hanging canvas, a snake-like shadow crept up in front of her and she let out a scream. She felt like she was dreaming.

"Don't you flee from me so soon, sweetheart." A screechy, hoarse voice hissed from behind her.

Caroline spun around and faced an old gypsy woman in a colorful dress. Golden jewelery was hanging all over her. Some black, tight curls were sticking from under a neatly tied, white turban that was covering her head. She was hunched over a small, round table with a crystal ball standing on it. Her wrinkled skin had the color of mocha, her red painted lips curled up in a creepy smile. Yes, _creepy_ was the right adjective describing the whole room.

Caroline hugged her shoulders and stood there, not moving at all.

"Come here." The lady gestured with her ring-covered, long and thin fingers.

Caroline felt a magical force pulling her closer to the table. She didn't even realized when she sat down in front of the witch, looking straight into her dark, mysterious eyes.

"Wanna see the future?" She drawled. Caroline was sitting there, hypnotized.

The Gypsy conjured up a deck of Tarot cards.

"The cards know it all."

She snapped her fingers and a dozen of candles lit up instantly. Caroline then saw the whole room clearly. The canvas were black, a lot of skulls and small bones were hanging around. Some exotic spears here and there. And intense smell of incense.

Caroline picked three cards with shaky hands. She was a vampire - damn it! - yet she felt lost like a little girl.

Three cards landed on the table. The woman turned one of them, revealing its front side.

"Let's see your past first, beautiful." The woman squeaked.

"The Devil, upright position." She grimaced.

"You used to love material objects, didn't ya? Yes, I see it all. Money and materialism. Shallow, weren't we?" She laughed. "And lust. Sexual _obsession_. Yet, frustration." Caroline could swear she was going red with embarrassment.

"What about the present?" She looked at the card in the middle. "Hmmm. Lovers reversed. Mean a lot of hoo-ha, my dear. Disturbances. Lack of harmony. You, little one, being _indecisive_." The witch smirked. "Too many men on your mind?"

The vampire just bit her lower lips in response.

"Why don't we have a look at your future, then?" The third card was turned upside down, and the woman smacked her lips. "The Hanged Man. He means a sacrifice."

Caroline cringed at the word.

"You'll have to sacrifice one to gain another."

"But what? Or who?" Caroline asked, but the witch quickly cut her off.

"Your world will be completely turned on its head."

Caroline's eyes went wide. If there was anything that she was sick of, it would be change. And then even more change.

"You will adapt to the change, eventually."

"Is there any advice you can give me?" The blonde looked helpless. The fortune-teller closed her eyes for a moment and thought deeply about something. Then she gave Caroline the deck of cards, not opening her eyes.

"Choose one more. The advisory card."

Caroline gulped and pulled out one, then she gasped.

"Death."

The woman nodded, with her eyes still closed.

"It means a new beginning. You will make a decision, it will bring change, one phase of your life will end, another will start."

Caroline was speechless. It didn't sound very optimistic, or did it?

"It also means," the witch said, opening her eyes, her gaze piercing right through Caroline, "that a very powerful man will influence your life. A dark type. He'll _have you_."

The blonde couldn't take it anymore. She jumped off her chair and run towards the exit, totally freaked out. Before she fled, the woman howled.

"You can't run away from your destiny, pretty little girl!"

There was a whizz and then Caroline was gone.

The Gypsy laced her hands together and waited. A shadow moved in the background.

"Are you done?" He asked.

"Yes." The woman mumbled gravely.

"How much?"

"Five thousand, and a vial of your blood."

"You charge high prices, I see." The shadow chuckled.

"The right price for the right words." The witch spat.

"True." The man admitted. "It was a pleasure to do business with you."

The fortune-teller didn't answer. Her silence indicated that her conversation with Klaus was finished.

* * *

><p>Caroline was running so fast she would probably outrun the cartoon road runner. In a second she was inside her house, panting heavily, not able to collect her thoughts. It was probably just an old crazy cat lady, talking rubbish to young girls!<p>

She felt like she had a fever.

The blonde was pacing around the living room, thinking about the encounter with the witch. Her cheeks were burning from vexation. Within a minute she get off her jeans and shirt, then put on her favorite shorts and a sweater and set out into the woods to run the stress off, like she used to call it.

After the eleventh lap she slowed down and leaned against a tree.

Her head wasn't a bit clearer, her thoughts still in a jumble.

_A dark type._

_You can't run away!_

_Destiny!_

Her head was about to explode.

* * *

><p>She took a long shower, dried her hair and put on some comfortable clothes, a red hoodie and dark gray tracksuit pants. Without bothering herself to put make up on, she grabbed a now-clean t-shirt that was lying in a basked with fresh laundry and headed towards the Originals' mansion, hoping that Klaus would be somewhere else.<p>

To her utter surprise, he really was somewhere else.

Kol was the one who opened the door.

"My favorite dipso." He grinned from ear to ear.

"Your shirt. Sorry. And thanks. Um, bye." She handed him the clothes roughly and turned to leave.

"Wait."

She just stopped, not knowing why.

"I've seen you today at the funfair."

"Well. The whole town was there." She played dumb.

"But the whole town did not run away from it like a lunatic on fire."

"Surprising, isn't it? That sort of things always end in disaster, yet today they haven't." She faked a tight smile and took a step towards the woods.

"Fine. Don't tell me. I'll know anyways." Kol smirked and shut the door.

She sighed and prepared to jog home.

She spun around, ready to start running, and bumped into something hard.

A chest.

A man's chest.

A man's chest clothed in a leather jacket.

Klaus' chest clothed in a leather jacket.

Caroline gulped, loudly.

"Good evening, love." He sent her a charming smile. She flinched.

"Hi."

"What are you doing in the dangerous woods alone in the evening, _little red riding hood_?" He chuckled.

"Hoping I could avoid _the big bad wolf._" Caroline scoffed at him.

"Where's your basket, then?"

"Got lost along the way."

The girl started to feel really uncomfortable around him. Especially when he circled her like a hungry wolf a part of him truly was.

"Let me show you a shortcut across the woods we can take."

"Y-you're not taking me. Anywhere." She mumbled, not able to take her eyes off him.

Then he stepped closer and reached to touch her hair. Electricity cracked between them. Caroline jumped so high she even startled herself. She swiftly backed away from him just like a demented person she was becoming, then put on her red hood, and ran away.

He shook his head, obviously amused by the cute blonde neurotic.

Her defense walls were tumbling down exactly as he planned.


	7. Trouble

**A/N: **Thanks for the subscriptions and reviews. They really motivate me. It's the best thing I can get from you after sitting hunched over my laptop for a few hours. So here we go at full speed, you better fasten your belts.

Lyrics: a kickass song by Elvis Presley - "Trouble"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

**Trouble**

_If you're looking for trouble_

_You came to the right place_

_If you're looking for trouble_

_Just look right in my face_

_I was born standing up_

_And talking back_

_My daddy was a green-eyed mountain jack_

* * *

><p>Elena was pacing around the vampire's bedroom.<p>

"Caroline, please! I can't go alone."

"I'm not going, Elena!"

The blonde huffed and dropped on the bed. It was almost noon when the Gilbert girl knocked to Caroline's door.

"It would be rude not to go to a birthday party, you know!" Elena tried to emotionally blackmail her friend. She did learn something from Damon, after all.

"He doesn't even have friends, why would he want to throw a party?" Caroline pouted.

They both received the invitations to Kol's birthday party. It was true that he didn't have anyone close to celebrate with (apart from his siblings), but lack of friends had never stopped Kol from throwing a good party before.

_Caroline Forbes, my favorite dipso, _

_I hope to see you on Friday night at my party. _

_Kol_

At least there was no box with a fancy dress lying on her doorstep as well as there was no mention of saving a dance for him.

"Honestly, Elena, I know it's only your excuse to meet Elijah there." Caroline pointed an accusing finger at Elena. The girl's cheeks went beetroot red.

Caroline felt pity for her friend.

The idea of going to the Mikaelsons' again gave the blonde creeps and freaked her out. The last time she visited them, Klaus was dangerously moving forward with his advances. Moreover, she still had the fortune-teller's words in mind.

_A dark type._

_He'll have you._

Caroline shivered from the very thought of them alone, face to face.

She just couldn't get over the incident at the funfair. The witch knew everything about her, or rather, the cards knew. She was never superstitious, she also didn't believe in augury. Then one of her friends turned out to be a witch, and she herself was turned into a vampire, her boyfriend became a hybrid, and her best friend's brother started to see his dead girlfriends.

So you must forgive miss Caroline Forbes if she happened to have some good reasons to believe the Tarot cards.

"Caroline, I have nobody else to ask. Please. There's going to be a lot of people, you won't even notice the Originals." Elena almost begged on her knees.

The blonde squeezed her eyes. Her strong will was an epic failure, again.

"Ok. I'm going." She mumbled, knowing that she would regret it later.

"Yay!" Elena's eyes gleamed with joy. "Which dress should I wear?"

This gonna be a long week, Caroline thought.

* * *

><p>Surprisingly, the week almost flashed by. On Friday morning Caroline wanted to call the whole thing off, but she couldn't break Elena's heart.<p>

The vampire was sitting at the Grill, sipping on her Cuba libre, thinking whether she was supposed to bring Kol a gift.

A small Caroline-like devil appeared on her right shoulder. _It's ridiculous_, the devil squeaked, _you two aren't even friends, why should you?_

There was a puff of white smoke and an angel stood on her left shoulder.

_It's a tradition, you shall not be rude_, it said. _Besides, he was nothing but nice to you all the time._

And that's what bothers me, Caroline sighed and the two disappeared.

She ordered another drink to be able to weigh the pros and cons.

* * *

><p>Elena looked like a million dollars. She was wearing a black, tight cocktail dress and a pair of sexy black high heels. Her hair fell over her shoulders, and her neck was graced by a small silver necklace.<p>

And Caroline... Well. She didn't try too hard. She chose a pair of black skinny pants and a light blue strapless top. She completed the outfit with a pair of navy blue heels and very long garnet earrings (_no more jewelery from your enemies,_ she reminded herself before the party). It was casual enough to demonstrate that she didn't care much, but still sexy enough, just in case she needed her charms to get herself out of trouble.

You never know what can happen in this crazy town.

* * *

><p>Pop-culture bit Kol right in the ass. He wanted some good music, however, the DJ had a different notion of good music in his head. People seemed to have a good time though, so the birthday boy put up with crappy music.<p>

He was leaning against the handrail of the impressive stairs of the mansion, and observed the dancing crowd. He didn't know these people. He didn't care.

He knew only two _dramatis_ _personae_ invited that were supposed to take part in his little, wicked play.

* * *

><p>Elena and Caroline entered the mansion.<p>

"Wow." The brunette gasped. There were people everywhere, boozing, laughing, dancing, and boozing some more.

"It looks like a drunken orgy." Caroline said.

"This is merely entertaining. You should have seen Kol partying in ancient Rome." A familiar voice resounded behind them.

The girls turned around abruptly to see-

"Elijah." Elena whispered.

"Good evening."

Caroline rolled her eyes. The sexual tension between these two made her want to bang her head against a hard wall. Or even against the Great Wall of China.

"I'll go and look for something to drink. Yeah. Whatever." She offered, then just vanished into the crowd. Elena and Elijah seemed not to even notice her disappearance.

* * *

><p>The older Salvatore joined the youngest Mikaelson. They had an idle chitchat about their irritating brothers while walking down the stairs.<p>

When they were standing in the hall, somebody flashed before their eyes.

"Blondie!" Damon yelled. She looked back at them and crossed her arms.

"Caroline, babe, lookin' _good_." He drawled.

"Save it." She scowled.

"I thought you wouldn't come."

"Oh, you're using your head to think for a change?" She faked surprise.

"Ouch! Ironical, are we?"

"Yeah, exactly like your presence here." Then she turned to Kol and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Happy birthday, grandpa." And she swayed away.

Damon wasn't sure if the first part of his plan was going in the right direction. Something unexpected must have happened at the funfair, the girl was acting weird lately, so he decided to rush things a little. He knew that Kol would easily rise to the bait. Conflicted Mikaelson brothers, that was what Damon needed at the moment.

"So, how's it going?" Damon asked Kol, taking two glasses of wine from a passing waitress.

"I'm trying to find out why she ran away from the funfair. I bet my crazy brother had a finger in this pie."

"And what about our tactics of small steps?" Damon mused.

"I'm taking them. Too small for me, if you know what I'm saying."

"Be gentle."

"I'm a _Mikaelson_. I don't do gentle neither do I nice."

"The thing is, she doesn't have to like you _per se_, she has to _think_ she likes you. The power of suggestion. Works every time."

"Like with you and Elena Gilbert?"

"Exactly."

"That's why she's making puppy-dog eyes to my brother Elijah right now?"

"Shit."

If Kol understood anything from what the older Salvatore said, suggestion was the key. He could try.

* * *

><p>Caroline downed another drink - some tequila this time - and decided not to go to college. Never. She would become a professional bartender and get wasted every night and they would pay her for it. It was her brilliant evil plan for the rest of her eternity. They say, after all, to find something that you love to do and get paid for it. Yes, Caroline Forbes, soon-to-be a chronic alcoholic, just took her future in her hands. She would even laugh maniacally if only she knew how to.<p>

She poured herself more tequila and went for a sightseeing tour around the breathtaking villa.

She wandered through a labyrinth-like corridors and finally found herself in Klaus' atelier. The pieces of art that were hanging on the walls were extremely impressive. The portraits of beautiful women - _he surely slept with all of them_, Caroline bridled with anger - decorated one of the walls. She took a look at a long table that stood by that wall. There was a lot of unfinished sketches. She browsed through them carefully.

One of the faces seemed familiar.

_What a beautiful girl_, she thought and took a sip of the drink she brought along. _He probably got into her pants, too. _

Then she almost choked with the liquid, coughing like a TB patient. She gasped for air although she didn't need it.

The face must have seemed familiar because _it was hers_!

She almost spat her drink out.

"Careful, there's no copies." She heard. She didn't have to turn around, she knew it was Mr. Artist.

_Not again! Why, God, why me? _She grimaced.

"Well, I was on my way out, so..." She forced a simper.

"No, you weren't. But you obviously are now, just because I came in." Klaus said, somewhat disappointed.

The blonde studied his looks. He was wearing a dark gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a pair of dark (black? gray? brown? she couldn't tell in that light) pants. Two top buttons of his shirt were undone, and she would lie if she said that he didn't look hot. _Urgh, she hated this word when referring to the hybrid. _

"You know what they say, two in an art room is a crowd. I'll leave you so you can contemplate your art in inspiring solitude." She was about to leave, when she heard him say,

"It's not solitude. It's loneliness."

Caroline stopped. Her heart ached.

She looked right in those blue eyes, so sad at the moment that she wanted to cry. He seemed so... helpless. Lonely.

Like a sick puppy.

The battle was still on, but she knew she lost that particular fight.

The vampire didn't even know what to tell him. That he deserved it? That the eternal loneliness served him right? She knew it was true, but still she felt it was too cruel to say such harsh things right now.

It would be simply like kicking the sad puppy. With all her naivety and kindheartedness, she just couldn't.

"I-" she started, but the words got stuck in her throat.

She sighed, frustrated, and spread her arms helplessly.

Then he was right in front of her. She felt a burning pressure on her lips. He was kissing her, with her face cupped in his hands. The whole impression of his weakness that Caroline had evaporated in a second. Now she felt his overpowering darkness creeping up her spine. She closed her eyes. Klaus' hands moved to her waist, while his mouth kept on invading hers.

And Caroline kissed him back.

This was a pretty clear signal for him to continue. She eventually gave up and wrapped her hands around his neck.

Maybe it was just alcohol, or maybe it was her long-hidden desire. The desire enhanced by their numerous encounters full of suggestive scenes and gestures.

She didn't know. And didn't want to know.

There's that saying, the truth shall make you fre- freak out.

While she was freudianishly analyzing her motives, his kisses got more and more demanding. Soon she stopped thinking at all. His lips were leaving a burning trace down her neck, and she felt like dying and going to heaven.

_Oh-my-God._

Her fists gripped the back of his shirt. They both were breathing heavily. The lust they were feeling was driving them crazy. He was devouring her, with his hungry lips and hands wandering all over her body.

_A dark type._

_He'll have you._

Caroline's eyes opened with terror. Her hands left his neck in the blink of an eye. She pushed him away forcefully like he was contagiously ill.

Klaus awakened from the state of frenzy he was in, and blinked at her, totally confused.

"Caroline," he panted, "what's wrong?"

"Don't you see what's wrong?" She yelled at him. "This is wrong! This is _so_ wrong!"

The girl backed to the door and was about to open them and run, when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him.

"Mutual attraction is wrong, Caroline?" The way he called her name made her shiver with excitement. "How long are you going to deny it?"

Klaus' rage terrified Caroline but she was too proud to give him the satisfaction and show it. She gritted her teeth.

"Just stay away from me."

"It seems that _you_ are the one that has problems with staying away from _me_." He smirked viciously.

She remained silent, but after a moment she regained her strength.

"Maybe so. But you're not worth it." She spat. "It's not worth losing my friends, losing Tyler, and my family. And it will never be."

Caroline left Klaus is the room alone. When she was staggering down the corridor, distressed and shaky, she heard a loud furious yell and a sound of crashing glass.

* * *

><p>Caroline Forbes was a few steps from the entrance door, thinking whether leave the party or not - Klaus had dashed out of the house and she wasn't too eager to run into him in the woods again - when somebody grabbed her by the shoulder. She spun around nervously.<p>

"Hey, I come in peace," he raised both hands in a cute 'I-give-up' gesture, "Mean no harm." Kol smiled. No matter how hard he tried, his smile was always somewhat wolfish.

"I'd love to stay and chat with you, but I'm leaving." She said without thinking much and rushed to the door. He blocked her way.

"And why is that?" Kol tilted his head to the side.

"Let's say I've had enough thrill for today. Or, kinda, forever."

He chuckled.

"You're so funny. Come on, have a birthday drink with me. Have I ever hurt you?" He winked.

In fact, he never did, Caroline had to admit that. He always helped her, maybe because he had his own motives to do so, but still she had never been threatened by him. He even saved her life (well, in a way) when her father rose from the grave some time ago. She'd needed a lot of time and strength to wave it aside, but eventually she managed to treat Kol normally. If you can treat this way your enemy's younger brother, of course.

He'd had many occasions to attack her or take advantage of her, for example when she was lying drunk next to the Wickery Bridge a few nights ago, yet he hadn't.

"Fine." She sighed.

Before she could notice, he handed her a glass full of wine. She should have warned him not to pour her so much of the delicious red liquid, but it was too late, and honestly, Caroline's consciousness clouded by the vast amount of already drunk alcohol didn't mind. She took a sip and smiled, delighted.

"It's wonderful!"

"It has to be. I've stolen it from a French king." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Which one?" She stuck her tongue out.

"I don't remember, but I'm sure his name was Luis." The both laughed.

"Shall we dance?" He offered with this irresistible roguish smile.

Caroline, feeling lightheaded and in pressing need of some distraction after her unfortunate encounter with Klaus, let him lead her to the dancefloor.

The music slowed down and Kol pulled her closer. She giggled. Caroline was having fun, not like with Klaus on their post-auction date, but with a guy that posed no threat whatsoever. She wanted to forget about the dangerous moment she and Klaus shared during the party and move on.

Maybe it was alcohol thinking instead of her brain, but she had a feeling that it was safe to dance with Kol or even to fool around.

Little did she knew that it was exactly what he wanted her to think.

"I have one more bottle stashed away in my room." Kol joked innocently, whispering in her ear.

They both snickered like two naughty kids that were up to another mischief.

"Let's go, don't let the king wait."

They sneaked out of the dancefloor room and run upstairs, laughing. Kol opened big mahogany doors that led to his room and grinned.

"Welcome to my chambers, My Lady." He bowed.

She tilted her head back giggling, and then dropped a curtsy.

"Your Grace."

While she was admiring Kol's room in her drunken stupor, he took care of the wine. She didn't notice that his hand made a suspicious move over the glass that he handed her a minute later.

They raised their glasses.

"To-" Caroline started, but she didn't really know what they could both drink to.

"To good fun." He grinned.

"Yeah." She smiled back, relieved.

After two more drinks that Kol poured her, she found herself standing in the middle of his bedroom with the world spinning around her head, again, faster and faster.

The last thing she remembered was his arms tightly wrapped around her tiny figure.

_Because I'm evil, _

_my middle name is misery_

_Well I'm evil, _

_so don't you mess around with me_


	8. Forever drunk

A/N: Hi there! Guys, you amaze me. So many subscriptions, I'm flattered :) (but hey, don't get lazy.)

**IMPORTANT**: High five and thanks go to **klarolinefics** at **tumblr** for listing _Off with your head_ and _Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps_ on the list of klaroline/koroline fics. Wow! Thank you so much!

Pssst! There are some spoilers concerning the story at the end of the chapter.

Songs:

Katy Perry - ''Last Friday Night'' (it perfectly fits the first part)

Miss Li – ''Forever Drunk'' (great song for the predicament Caroline is in)

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

**Forever drunk**

_There's a stranger in my bed_

_There's a pounding in my head_

_Glitter all over the room_

_Pink flamingos in the pool_

_Last Friday night_

_Yeah, we danced on tabletops_

_And we took too many shots_

_Think we kissed but I forgot_

It felt like deja vu.

Caroline opened her eyes, feeling an acute, killer hangover. _Why is the Earth moving so loudly and so quickly?_ She thought and closed her eyes again. _Why is the sun shining so bright?_ _It has no shame, damn it! _

Wait a minute. What the hell happened last night?

Drinks, more drinks, an argument with Klaus, a hate-kiss, then a lot of alcohol again. She was on her spectacular way to becoming a professional alcoholic.

And then Kol.

Kol?

Kol!

Her eyes went wide open instantly. Then, while her body stayed frozen, Caroline's blue eyes moved to the left and her gaze fell upon a young man's body lying next to her. She looked down at her chest. She was only in her underwear.

She didn't remember a thing after the third glass of that delicious wine. What the hell happened?

Shit.

Kol seemed to be fast asleep. The blonde seized the opportunity to raise the white bed covers little by little but stopped abruptly when she saw one very conclusive proof that he was, in fact, naked.

Very naked. Um, too naked for Caroline's taste. Au naturel. Naked like Adam. In his _birthday suit_ - she mentally gagged at the pun.

Her last hope vanished.

Suddenly the hangover, or the infernal noises, or the bright light - they all ceased to matter. Now it was time to hatch up an escape plan. Fast.

She got up on her feet as quietly as she could and tiptoed to the middle of the vast room to collect her clothes. _Ew, they are almost torn to shreds. _

She gulped.

Thanks to the soft (and probably more expensive than the whole hell) carpet, the girl managed to get out of the room unnoticed. She put the remains of the top and jeans on and dashed down the corridor.

Caroline was hurrying down the huge stairs when someone standing by the main door caught her eye. The first thing that came to her mind was the horrifying thought that it was Klaus. But it was only - only? - Elijah.

She stopped dead in her track and waited for his reaction. He stood there, hands in the pockets of an elegant, classy suit (_was he seriously wearing a suit at 8 in the morning? _she scowled), and a worried look was painted on his face. Elijah's troubled expression made Caroline even more anxious than she was a minute ago, but soon she deciphered that it didn't refer to her in any way.

It was all about Elena.

She nodded to him solemnly and he nodded back. Then she left the mansion, not saying a word.

* * *

><p>When Caroline Forbes crawled back to her house, took a shower, got changed into her pink pajamas, and fell onto her bed, the painful realization hit her hard in the face.<p>

Most probably, she was becoming addicted to alcohol. No, Caroline shook her head, she was already heavily addicted.

Apparently, she slept with Kol. She slept with Kol Mikaelson, her archenemy's younger brother, after getting so plastered she couldn't control her actions.

And what was killing her the most - she _cheated on Tyler._

She _betrayed_ Tyler.

Her eyes went dull, gloomy, bleak.

Broken.

_Caroline Forbes_, she thought, _the chief unfaithful bitch of Mystic Falls._

She curled up in a ball and burst out crying.

Her heart was broken, her mind messed up, her body felt dirty and violated. No shower could cleanse her filthy self. How could she do this to him? How could she cheat on him while he was probably out there, going through excruciating pain so they could be together?

Her heart ached, although it technically shouldn't. It was aching and burning, her chest was about to crack or explode. It didn't matter that she didn't need to breathe; she was choking, gasping for air, like she was going to die. She sobbed.

This is what despair does to you. How could she be so stupid? So naive? So reckless? Caroline was a victim of her old irresponsible self mixed with a great dose of alcohol. And it all started when Tyler run away. How long can one suffer trying to cope with own self-destructive mode? How long does it take to turn off the self-preservation instinct? How long can you wait while being put to test by everyone and everything - and most importantly, by yourself?

Heart-rending cry escaped her lungs. _Please, please make it stop. Make. It. Stop! _

Her world was falling apart, and the worst thing was that... it wasn't the first time. She clutched her head, _what happened to my life?_

It hurt, it hurt so much.

She could cry a river. She could even cry a lake or an ocean.

As the hours were passing by, she was lying on the bed, swallowing the salty tears.

* * *

><p>Nobody saw Caroline Forbes for the next three days. Even Caroline Forbes didn't see herself for three days. She was too afraid to face her reflection in the mirror.<p>

She only left her bedroom once - to bring herself more booze from the secret stash her mother had in the kitchen.

After three days of alcohol-filled depression the blonde didn't resemble Caroline Forbes in the slightest. Her hair was tangled and dirty, the nail polish almost scratched off from her nails, huge dark circles around her eyes.

* * *

><p>Nobody saw Klaus Mikaelson for those three days, either. He went on a killing spree to North Carolina. He hit a few bars, he drained a few dozen people, and even more whiskey bottles. The only one thing which was left unsatisfied in him was the lust. Various women almost threw themselves at him yet he remained unmoved.<p>

_What a fool am I_, he thought every time he raised a glass of whiskey.

* * *

><p>Everyone saw Kol Mikaelson strolling around the town with a swagger. For the last three days he 'd been parading as proud as a peacock. On the third day he entered the Grill, all puffed up. In his black coat, black pants and heavy boots he looked like a first-class bad boy. Two or three girls almost fainted when he sent them a dirty look from under his straggly hair falling slightly onto his forehead.<p>

His partner in crime, dressed in black as befits a real villain, was waiting for him at the small table in a corner.

"You left the party quite soon." Kol mused, taking the only one free seat across from Damon.

"I didn't want to overstay my welcome." The older Salvatore spat.

"Right. And Elena making out with my brother Elijah wasn't a problem, then?" Kol obviously wanted to cut Damon to the quick. The Salvatore only smirked bitterly.

Kol continued.

"Anyway, I took your advice. Thank you." This alarmed Damon Salvatore. It couldn't have turned out well, it simply couldn't, considering the Original's temper, he thought.

"Yeah? Which one?" He asked carefully.

"About making the girl think she likes me. Or even more."

"You convinced Caroline-fucking-Forbes that she's after you?" Damon forced a laugh. It wasn't amusing, it absolutely wasn't. Kol's good mood was the best evidence that something wasn't right there.

"If you consider her waking up in my bed naked, then... yes." The Original grinned devilishly.

"You slept with her?" Damon flipped out.

"We didn't even touch, but she thinks otherwise. And that's how the things stay for the moment unless I want to clear things up." Kol announced like it was just a weather forecast.

"I know that a magician never reveals his tricks, but let me just know one thing. How did you manage to play on her like that?" Question: how much was Damon Salvatore worried about what had happened? Answer: _Very_.

"Alcohol mostly."

"It's impossible and you know it. It would take a whole brewery to get a vampire dead drunk."

Kol only tilted his head to the side, and then downed his drink in one huge gulp.

"You didn't drug her, did you?" Damon asked with a horrified expression on his face. Kol only smirked slightly.

"You did." Damon's eyes darkened. "Son of a bitch."

* * *

><p>Elijah was sitting in a comfy armchair, his hands entwined in front of him, his chin resting on them. The brooding, always calm, mysterious Original.<p>

He looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple of days. Three, most probably.

His suit was just a little bit wrinkled which suggested the vampire's profound state of nostalgia. In case of Elijah Mikaelson, even a tiny sign of negligence, every speck of dust that fell on his shoulder indicated his lack of control. If his shoes weren't perfectly shiny today - just neat and clean - the fact suggested that his train of thought crashed somewhere on the way.

The honorable Original had many problems on his mind right now. The biggest problem, the one that got him down the most, the burden that he had been carrying for the last months had the form of a petite brunette with big, brown puppy eyes and a beautiful smile. And, what was the most important fact, she had a kind, open heart.

The minor troubles in his family were caused by his two unpredictable brothers. The _fickle_ _ones_, Elijah shook his head with displeasure. He guessed that Kol and Klaus, always at odds with each other, now had picked up a new target. New toy.

He wondered how much time had to pass before he would be forced to intervene on her behalf. Or against her.

* * *

><p>A familiar face appeared at the Grill. Damon noticed her the minute she entered.<p>

"What's your evil sister doing here?" He spat.

"Well, she must have got back home along with Elijah." Kol explained briefly. The music was getting louder, the crowd at the bar started to move to the dancefloor.

A chair shifted. The third person sat down next to Damon. But that time Rebekah wasn't really aiming at Damon Salvatore. It was her brother who got on her nerves.

She didn't really care about the Salvatore's presence there.

"What was _she_ doing at our house?" The blonde spat.

Kol just chuckled.

"How do you even know that?"

"I have my ways." She shrugged. Her hair was falling in delicate curls on her shoulders, her tight leather mini skirt was tempting Damon to take it off, but he remained still.

"Let's say it's not your business." Her brother grinned. She frowned angrily.

"I don't know what you all want from her, but that blonde slut is not entering our house again." She was forming now a big blonde ball of fury. "Or I will _s-take_ her away from you." She sighed with contentment, satisfied with her word-play.

Rebekah's skirt was screaming at Damon to free the girl from the leather manacle.

Before she could even notice, Kol wandered away, and Damon's hand was gripping her thigh firmly.

* * *

><p>At 8 pm, with her eyes still somewhat puffy from crying, Caroline changed her clothes and went down the stairs. She shut the door behind her, pulled the red hood over her head, and headed towards the liquor store.<p>

There was the other reason why she was drinking so much lately, yet she decided to keep it to herself. It made her tormenting craving for blood and killing subside a little. _If she admits the one last thing she wants to forget so badly, there will be no redemption for her. _The small town was vibrating with life, her vampire senses told her there was plenty of delicious veins to sink her fangs into.

Blood flowing.

Hearts beating.

The vampire gritted her teeth, shook her head and entered the shop. She bought a bottle of rum, two bottles of wine, one of champagne, and one of tequila (just in case).

Caroline chose the longer way home to avoid going through the woods. It always meant bad luck for her. She would rather be crushed by a piano falling from the sky than run into Klaus in the woods again. _At least a piano wouldn't bite you or kiss you_, she thought.

Chilly night air made her shiver out of habit. She still couldn't get rid of her human weaknesses. She'd been always a sun person. The hotter it was, the better. Now her beloved sun bit her, denied her, burned her if she wasn't wearing the sunlight ring.

She was in the middle of the street crossing it, when she saw Klaus walking down the pavement. She stopped right away.

Then a bright light attacked her eyes from the left.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

A truck could have hit her if Klaus hadn't pulled her swiftly from the road onto the sidewalk. Caroline blinked as she woke up from the shock she suffered a minute ago. What the hell?

"Always on a suicide mission, I see." He spat. There was nothing nice, nothing kind about him at that moment. He was a total mess. He looked sloppy, unkempt, haggard and drawn. Dark bags under his eyes. Vacant look on his face. Tangled hair. They both resembled nothing so much as two tramps.

She realized he had still a strong grip on her, and jerked her arm away.

"Your're throwing quite a party." He commented on her bag of bottles that stayed untouched.

Caroline still kept her mouth shut. The truth is, she had told him everything back there in the art room. All she wanted now was to be far away from him. And his piercing eyes. And his full, luscious lips. And his hard chest.

And his dark side, Caroline reminded herself. He was evil and no kiss could change that.

She turned away without a word and started to walk away. He followed her at the same pace. She quickened it, he did too.

"He's not coming back!" He yelled after her.

Caroline stopped, and stood there, still with her back to him. Klaus stopped walking as well and waited for her reaction.

She turned only her profile to him, but avoided his eyes by looking at the ground.

"Yes he is. Even if he wasn't, it wouldn't help your case." She said as calmly as she could.

"How, pray tell, is he better than I?" Klaus snapped, exasperated.

"How is it even possible that you choose a teenage unrefined boy – a boy! - over a cultured, experienced man of the world?" He lashed out. "I could show you everything. Everything! You could have the whole world at your feet!"

"You know what?" Caroline sighed, still not looking at the hybrid.

"You're acting like a man going through a profound mid-life crisis that got infatuated with a teenage girl, and now he's throwing a tantrum because eventually she prefers to go out with a teenage boy next door."

That badly hurt his pride. Caroline gathered all her strength and looked him in the eyes. They were blazing. He was breathing heavily and she knew it was just the matter of second before he'd launch at her.

The blonde couldn't have been more right. She pressed the bag to her chest with one hand while he took two wide strides and seized her shoulders. She knew it was no use defending herself or trying to escape. His eyes were flaring amber. Caroline shut her eyes, remained passive, and prepared for the bite.

It never came.

Instead, he grabbed her violently by the head. His hot lips crashed into hers in a rough, ardent kiss. He kissed her long and hard. Her red hood slid off her head.

Caroline used her free right hand and pushed him away.

Then a sharp, stinging slap fell across the hybrid's cheek. The sound of the blow resounded in the street. She looked at her burning hand, then at Klaus whose right hand was now lightly touching his left cheek, as in disbelief.

Then they were stunned into a sullen, heavy silence.

* * *

><p><em>Sun goes up and sun goes down <em>

_I can't feel the beat and I can't hear the sound_

_Round an round all this killing time_

_No I just can't stay forever drunk_

It was 9.30 pm when Caroline Forbes reached her house, still trembling after what had happened. She opened the door and concluded that her mother was off to work, again. Well, at least it meant no inconvenient questions.

For example, _what are that empty bottles doing under your bed, Caroline? Ten bottles? _

Caroline jumped into her pajamas again, put Tarantino's "Kill Bill" on, and opened the bottle of rum. She was about to take the first sip straight from the bottle when her phone rang.

"Elena?"

"Um, hi. Caroline, is everything ok? You've gone MIA so suddenly."

_Sure, everything's just peachy. _

_I'm a toper. My boyfriend's missing. I've kissed one Original brother, then apparently I've slept with another. _

_Everything's fine and dandy._

"Yeah, I'm fine. Did Something happen, Elena? You sound strange."

"I did something horrible." Elena whispered.

_Oh really? You did what exactly?_ Caroline mused. Elena had never done anything improper. She was the perfect one.

"I kissed Elijah."

_Ok, I take back what I said._

"Wh-what do you mean?" Caroline stuttered.

"You know, when lips touch-"

"I know what _a kiss_ means! But how come?"

"It just happened." Her friend said quietly.

_Yeah, tell me about it. _

Elena continued.

"And now I feel like I cheated on Ste- Um, Dam-" She hesitated. "Like I cheated on them."

"Elena, but you're not really with neither of them."

"But I still love them both. It's just-"

"Elijah certainly isn't as bad as... for example Klaus." Caroline mentally slapped herself after saying this. "Imagine how would you feel if you kissed Klaus!" She reasoned while banging her head against a wall.

"I know. Elijah is a true gentleman, Klaus is just a scoundrel."

"Exactly." The blonde slid down the wall and sat on the floor, frustrated.

"But Caroline, what if I feel something for him?"

Caroline heart skipped a beat. "For Klaus?"

"No, we're talking about Elijah, remember?" Elena, a little bit confused, reminded Caroline.

"Yes, yes, of course. Right. Well. Um-" She sighed.

"Elena, listen to me. You're officially a single woman. A strong, independent woman. That's right! The Salvatores disappeared from your life like a soap bubble, it doesn't matter if they did it to protect you or not. Now it's time to make decisions on your own, and for your own good." Caroline wasn't sure whom she was really lecturing.

"Maybe you made a mistake, or maybe it wasn't that bad. The point is not to overanalyze it! Just move on, Elena. You're a survivor!" Caroline didn't know whose affair she was commenting right now. Elena remained silent for a while. Then she took a deep breath.

"You're right, Caroline." She said, slightly relieved.

"That's my girl! Listen, I have to go now, I'll call you tomorrow, ok? Bye!"Caroline hung up.

She was too worried Elena would ask that dreadful question: and you, Caroline, did you move on?

_Mirror mirror on the wall_

_Where did the good times go_

_Mirror mirror I don't know _

_What I'm living for_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Perhaps<strong>_** SPOILERS**: Events will take an unexpected twist soon and Caroline and Klaus will share some quality time together. Guess what could possibly make Caroline change her mind? I'll just tell you it's going to be a real **gamechanger**. I hope I will surprise most of you. :)


	9. Pavlove

**A/N: **Hey, hi, hello! I wrote it super fast, it may not be edited perfectly (sorry!), but I'm so so sooooo excited!

I'm having a short spring break at my uni therefore I have more time to write. It's my method to cope with stress. Yup.

My Dear Readers! You're **the** **best**! So many reviews in just a day or so! Yay! Do you know why I love reading reviews so much? Because then I see that you aren't just the numbers in the stats I can check in my account.

Your are flesh and blood (and hearts!) reading my fic. Yeah. :)

Thank you from the bottom of my fangirl/shipper heart!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

**Pavlove**

_Something make my chest stir_

_Something make my head blur_

_I'm not ready for a handshake with death, no_

_I'm just such a happy mess_

_[...]_

_I'm the invisible man_

_Who cant stop staring at the mirror_

_[...]_

_I want to make you as lonely as me_

_So you can get addicted to this_

_[Fall Out Boy - Pavlove]_

"Don't freak out, it's nothing I haven't seen before." Kol's words echoed in Caroline's head like a thunderstorm. He sneaked into her bedroom while she was taking a morning shower. The blonde wasn't entirely pleased when she saw him in the morning sitting on her bed with that smug grin of his. I seriously need some good window lock, she thought. The sunlight and light wind entered the room through the open window.

Now she was standing there, her slim figure covered only by a small blue towel reaching just to her mid-thigh. She would hit him with a lamp or anything within her reach, but she was too afraid the towel would fall down, leaving her naked right in front of Kol's face.

She gripped on the towel and backed to the bathroom. Then she locked the door and looked for something bigger to cover herself with.

_Has anyone, by chance, seen a fireman's uniform? It would fit perfectly. And a fireman's helmet. To hide her embarrassment._

Ok, a white fluffy robe would do.

Caroline carefully opened the door not giving up hope. Maybe he was only a figment of her overheated imagination?

She peeked at the room from behind the bathroom door.

Nope. Still there.

She sighed and went into her room. Her wet hair was dripping on her robe and on the carpet. A hope cherished deep down her heart to avoid this conversation disappeared. Kol knew too much for her already shattered nerves, she was afraid to learn more of the painful truth.

"So," Kol broke the awkward silence, "you've been avoiding me lately, Caroline." He stated. She nodded. There was no way she could pretend to have been suffering from a severe case of flu.

"Why?" he asked, not taking his eyes off her, his face was expressionless. Caroline instantly felt like a convict in a prison during interrogation.

"Because I don't remember what happened." She whispered, lowering her eyes and focusing on a pool on the floor that formed out of the dripping water.

"What?" Kol seemed genuinely surprised. He knew very well how to fake surprise.

"You heard me. I don't know what happened and I'm not sure I want to know." Caroline hugged her arms.

Kol raised his eyebrows.

"Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

"Fair enough." He gave up. "But you must know I remember _every_ _single_ _detail."_ The Original smiled tightly. There was something alarming about him that Caroline hadn't realized earlier. But now she saw it. And it gave her creeps. He stood up and took a few steps forward, so Caroline took a few steps back, but a wall effectively blocked her retreat.

Kol tilted his head to the side and his gaze seemed to be almost penetrating her thoughts.

"I remember everything, Caroline." He got even closer.

"And it would be a shame if you didn't." He touched her arm. The girl jerked away like he was a fire that burned her. Kol quickly withdrew his hand. She grimaced. He leaned forward and whispered to her ear,

"You, my dear, were _exquisite_." And then he left her enough space she could breathe again.

"I was drunk, Kol. I made a stupid mistake." Caroline defended herself.

_Your Honor, I confess I got totally sloshed, so this one-night stand doesn't count._

"You seemed to be quite sure about how _right_ it was that night." He hissed.

She silenced him with a gesture. "You could have stopped me."

"From what?" He laughed. Yeah, he was having so much fun at the moment. "I have never said no to a beautiful damsel in an erotic distress."

She wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. With a baseball bat.

"I get it. You came here to torture me. Don't you bother, you've already played merry hell with me. The thing is, I don't have any idea why."

"I'm here only to make you realize that maybe you're not so attached to your MIA boyfriend after all. There's a connection between us, you know it." Kol seemed absolutely sober about it. A hundred per cent convinced. _The guy must be totally off his rocker_, she guessed.

"What's wrong with all of you Mikaelsons?" Caroline pouted with irritation. "Are you, like, genetically programmed to be bi-polar?" She spat.

"One day you're all nice and sweet, you pick up a flour fight and all that (here Kol seemed a little lost), then you go Mr. Hyde on me and mess with my head. I've had enough!"

Caroline's face expression went from anxious and distressed to furious in just a second. Maybe two. Kol was genuinely impressed. The blonde was on the verge of spontaneous vampire combustion.

Grinning like a lunatic, he feasted his eyes on her.

"You look so pretty when you're angry."

"Argh!" She lost her temper and pushed him with all her strength. Kol landed on her bed, cackling madly.

"Come on, Caroline." He winked at her and made an inviting gesture. "I truly _savor_ an angry sex."

Caroline's eyes flared with anger. She jumped at him, grabbed him by the collar of his dark brown shirt and dragged him down the stair.

"I wish I could just throw you out of the window! Too bad I couldn't afford a repair job then." She muttered while they were staggering towards the doorway. She opened the door and pushed him out of the house. He was still laughing.

"In case you change your mind-"

"Go to hell!"

She shut the door in his face.

"Denial." He snickered. "Thy name is woman."

* * *

><p>Her duffel bag was fully packed. Her car was filled up. Her phone - fully charged.<p>

She looked at herself in the mirror. All black and tight. She looked like a professional hunter. Except she wasn't going to hunt in the literal sense.

She took the keys from a table in the hall and locked the door behind her. The duffel bag ended up in the trunk of her car and she headed to the Grill. Elena was supposed to be hanging there with Matt. Lately she kept on joking, _we humans should stick together_, and somehow Caroline couldn't agree more. It was better for her to hang with Matt than make out with Elijah somewhere in the shady corner of their mansion.

When Elena saw Caroline the Werewolf Hunter, she gasped.

"What the heck, Care?"

Caroline raised her brow and nodded surreptitiously towards the Originals that were playing pool all together at the other side of the bar.

"It's important, Elena." Caroline whispered.

* * *

><p>"What that blonde whore is doing here?" Rebekah spat, focused on the pool table as she hit another ball with her cue. A few boys in the back checked out her butt.<p>

"Don't know, don't care, Beks." Kol smirked, yet was glancing every few minutes in the direction where two girls were sitting.

"You should get a degree in dramatic arts, Kol. You just mastered the art of acting." Her tongue-in-cheek remark got Elijah's attention. _Was his little brother up to no good again?_

"I demonstrate my jaw-dropping skills when I see fit. You're not worth it." He snapped.

"What skills, exactly?" They all turned to see Klaus standing by the table. He raised an eyebrow playfully. "What? I couldn't miss our family bonding time."

"Here he goes, my favorite older brother!" Rebekah laughed and threw him a wooden cue.

"You want me to play with this shit of a stick?" He snorted.

"You can always use you di-''

"Shut up, Kol!" Rebekah bashed him with her cue.

"You're the one that works more with his stick rather than with his head." Klaus retorted.

Then they heard a loud laugh coming from the nearest table. Their other brother was having fun watching them.

"I missed moments like that." Elijah loosened his designer tie, then waved at a waitress to bring him another drink.

* * *

><p>"I'm going to find Tyler no matter what. I checked some werewolf packs on the Internet - by the way, it's amazing how much you can find if you look in the right place - and there's a pack down there in Illinois. I'm going."<p>

Caroline had never seemed so determined like in that very moment when she spoke about finding Tyler.

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No!" The blonde shook her head. "I need you to stay here. Whenever you go, Klaus will follow." She noticed painful expression on Elena's face. "Sorry. But I definitely don't want Klaus to find Tyler before I do. If he knew about what Tyler's doing..." She sighed distressed.

"I know." Elena reached and hugged her friend.

"But you can do something for me. Keep your eye on them." She gestured towards the Mikaelsons. "If one of them leaves the town in mysterious circumstances, you have to call me right away."

The brunette nodded solemnly.

After Caroline was gone, Elena remained by the bar, not wanting to go back to her eerily empty house. She looked down at her coffee cup.

"Killing time at the bar alone?" She heard from behind her back. She didn't have to turn away. The man sat down on her right side and put his elbows on the counter. An expensive gold watch was clasped around his left wrist.

"It's better than sitting alone at home." She smiled bitterly.

"Do you mind if I keep you company?"

She looked in the sincere, serious eyes of his.

"Not at all."

* * *

><p>It was about 7 pm when Caroline pulled over and parked her black shiny car in a makeshift parking lot of a lousy roadside bar. Vampires don't feel hunger (in the human sense) but they do experience thirst from time to time. She get out from the car, locked the door and went inside the bar. After buying a bottle of water and a bottle of wine (just in case! you can't blame the girl, really), she was about to leave when a familiar face flashed in the background. Caroline raised her eyebrows in a total shock and dashed towards the back room of the bar. She trod carefully on the wooden floor, looking to both sides, clutching tightly at the bottle of wine.<p>

_Something just isn't right here_, she was repeating it over and over.

The air swooshed and someone appeared behind her. She turned around instantly.

"What are you doing here?" She growled.

Then the whole world started to spin around and all she could hear was somebody whispering. Then her vision got blurred. She felt like was falling down, down, down into a black and white whirl spinning rapidly around her. Consciousness was gradually leaving her mind.

Then everything went black.

* * *

><p>He could kill two birds with one stone, he thought. She would do the dirty job for him, she would find his hybrid, then he'd just nail them. A pack of werewolves ready to turn into his hybrid soldiers was just an additional bonus. <em>She must be indeed a naive baby vampire to think I won't hear what she's saying even over such a distance<em>, he laughed to himself.

Hell yes, Klaus would love to see the blonde begging him to save that boy's life.

Beg, crawl, plead.

Something caught his attention. Her car was parked by a bar. _She couldn't have chosen more seedy bar to hide in_, he snorted angrily.

The air seemed to go out when he entered the bar. Every single customer (it's a very polite way to call the local hoodlums, crooks and other suspicious characters) had eyes on the hybrid. Klaus looked around, searching for a mop of blonde hair.

No blonde in sight.

He passed by the tables and tacky red leather seats - the wooden floor creaking under his every step - and got across the bar, then disappeared in the back.

There was a corridor, and a body was laying on the ground at the end of it. He run to the girl.

It was Caroline, laying there unconscious. She wasn't dead, he sighed with relief, then reminded himself that he was still angry at her for treating him like shit.

What the hell happened to her? Who was stupid enough to attack a vampire and succeed in knocking her out?

He carried her bridal style to his car, placed her gently in the passenger's seat, adjusted the seat belt, brought her bag from the other car, got into the driver's seat, started the car and drove away.

But not in the direction of Mystic Falls.

* * *

><p>The girl opened her eyes. Her head was pounding. Yes, that terrible feeling rang a bell.<p>

She looked around. She was laying in an obscure hotel room, on top of a large, comfy bed.

She groaned. The pain was killing her.

"Finally you're up." She heard. Somebody was standing by the window, looking at some indeterminable point outside. A man. Tall, handsome, she thought. Dark jeans and a gray t-shirt perfectly matched and emphasized his ocean blue eyes. He looked familiar. Something about him seemed familiar.

"Where am I?" The blonde clutched at her head.

"At a hotel, sweetheart. Somewhere in Illinois."

"And who are you?" Her eyes fell on him and were observing him cautiously.

He just snorted. After all she'd been through she still had nerve to joke. Impressive.

"Hey." She said. "I asked you a question. Who are you?"

Klaus blinked twice. Was she serious?

Then the girl looked down at her hands and clothes. Her eyes filled with utter horror. She was terrified.

"And who am I?" She panicked. Although her head was aching like crazy, she jumped out of bed and dashed to the bathroom. She looked in the mirror.

A blonde, petite face. Blue eyes. Pink lips. Pale skin. The girl in the mirror seemed familiar. She was a vampire.

But it was the only thing she knew about herself.

The girl emerged from the bathroom as pale as a ghost, with hazy eyes and quivering lip. She fell to the floor.

Klaus got to her in a second and crouched down.

"Do you remember anything, love?" He asked, concerned.

"Only that I'm a vampire." she whispered. "Do you know me?"

"Yes." He whispered, studying her face. "Yes, I know you, Caroline."

"My name's Caroline?"

It was the moment when an evil but brilliant idea occurred to Klaus. It was the chance he'd always needed. It could change everything. It would give him an opportunity to do what he always wanted. Make her know him. He knew it could end in tragedy. If somebody found out... But if not, they could have the time of their life. Fate must have been on his side, he concluded. He couldn't believe it was happening.

He made a decision. _The_ decision. He was going to get his way, come hell or high water.

"You're Caroline," he said and touched gently her tangled hair, tucking it behind her left ear. "Caroline... Ford." He couldn't stop looking at her.

"And you?"

"My name's Niklaus. But you always call me Nik."

She shot him a suspicious glance.

"Are we friends or something like that?" She croaked.

"Something like that." He chuckled and smiled kindly. "Yes, you can say so, love."

Caroline was still confused. Klaus decided to give it a shot.

"We're a couple." He leaned forward and looked her deep into the eyes. "Companions." He whispered. "_Lovers_."

Her jaw dropped.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Any thoughts? Let me hear ya! Make some noise!

Um. Yeah. Just let me know what you think. ;)


	10. Glad you came

**A/N: Uno: **Recently I write like crazy (hooray hooray its a holi-holiday! I love my short uni breaks). Writing's the most relaxing thing in the world for me. Or maybe I'm just following in Kol's footsteps and going crazy. I regret nothing! Ahahahahahaaaa. Ha. (Btw Have you seen it? Kol will be back on TVD. I'm in my private fangirl heaven.)

**Dos:** To all those who are worried about Klaus lying to Caroline: he's doing it with the best of intentions! :) Too bad we all know what the road to hell is paved with. But! I'm a **hardcore Klaroline shipper,** I won't let them die. **And!** In this chapter Klaus mentions an event from my other story,_ Off with your head_. Just so you know if you haven't read it.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own ''The Beauty and the Beast''. All credits go to our beloved Disney.

Song: I'm in love with that cover and you have to bear with me. I'm listening to it and watching it over and over again. And. I. Dance.

Here we go with a lot of Klaroline sweetness.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

**Glad you came**

_The sun goes down_

_The stars come out_

_And all that counts_

_Is here and now_

_My universe will never be the same_

_I'm glad you came _

_[Glee Cast - Glad You Came (cover)]_

She fell asleep. The girl was exhausted, there was no doubt.

Klaus was sitting in the armchair (_Don't leave me alone in the room. Please._) thinking about the list of potential suspects. Who could have done it to her?

It could be a spell, but not really. Her memory was erased in a very particular way. She remembered everything about the world, history, recent events, but in a way that only presented the facts. There was no emotional attachment, even when he asked her about the tragedy of 9/11. It was _terrible_, she told him, but she didn't remember what she was feeling at that moment nor who she shared her feeling with. Somebody just erased all her knowledge about Caroline Forbes. Why she even existed, what was her history. The important people in her life. The beloved ones. The hated ones.

Now he had the best opportunity to change that.

To show her the real Klaus.

She wouldn't give him a chance otherwise.

He'll show her the world.

Forget Paris, Rome, Tokyo. He'll give her the whole world that had been waiting for her for too long.

Klaus stashed all her things away so she couldn't find her phone or other personal things. He didn't need any trouble right now.

* * *

><p>Caroline woke up stiff-necked next day. How long had she been sleeping? She stretched herself in the bed. Then she saw that man, Nik, apparently her man, sleeping on the couch. She sighed. she couldn't figure him out, but on the other hand, she couldn't figure herself out either.<p>

* * *

><p>They had a long, serious talk the night he found her. Truth to be told, they had talked the night away. She learned about their history and yes, it rang a bell. She just didn't know in which belfry.<p>

She knew quite a lot about them so far. They had met for the first time in a small town in Virginia, she had been living there for some time. Her friends hadn't taken to him. They definitely hadn't grown fond of him. But he'd saved her life from a fatal werewolf bite. They even had been dancing at a fancy ball his family organized.

She had turned him down that night. (_No way! Really? Hey, I must have been a tough cookie, she giggled._)

They'd met at a local bar once. A quarrel, a pursuit, another turn down.

Her father died (_What happened? He was turned into a zombie. What? But you let him go with no regrets, love._), Nik helped her despite she had been so nasty to him.

They had even gone out for a date once which ended up as a very dirty flour fight between them. (_I can't believe it!_ she laughed. _You don't strike me as a laid-back guy who wages a flour vs eggs fight!_)

According to Nik, their relationship could be described as a fairly bumpy ride from the very beginning. But then it got surprisingly better. And lately it's been pretty good.

"The evening before you got attacked, we had a fight." He confessed, taking her hand into his. _How big his hand is_, she thought. _How warm_. She remembered this touch, somehow, although she didn't know how. Her feelings that bombarded her at every turn were a true mystery to her. One minute she was feeling so happy and comfortable in her skin just to break down and cry a minute later. Nik said it was just a side-effect and soon she would be alright.

And that they would find the one that had done this to Caroline.

"What fight?" She squinted her eyes at him.

She was sitting in the bed, leaning her back against the bedpost, while he sat on the verge of the bed, facing her.

"We argued about..." He hesitated. About what? That he wasn't good enough?

"About what?"

"About a man that was putting the moves on you." He said, looking ashamed.

But she just laughed. It was one of the hardest moments in their relationship and she just laughed at it!

"Nik." She giggled. "You were... jealous?" She asked in disbelief.

"Why, yes. Of course I was!" He scowled. She just laughed harder. Then he cracked a laugh too. An innocent, shy smile like the one he'd shot her at the ball.

She stopped laughing but still kept smiling at him. Her eyes were smiling on their own, too.

_You run away_, he told her, _but I came after you. I couldn't let you go. Then I found you in the bar, on the floor._

_It's ok,_ she said, _everything's ok._ Then she yawned.

He kissed the back of her hand and laid her to sleep. Then went up to the couch and drifted off.

* * *

><p>A week passed. They still were staying at the hotel. Nik was making call after call and finally he sighed with relief. He got them an apartment in Chicago. (<em>We're starting over, love.<em>)

They got into the car, Caroline had only to pack a few t-shirts, some lingerie and another pair of jeans he had miraculously gotten for her so she could change clothes.

(_We will go for a great shopping trip once we get to Chicago, I promise, sweetheart_.) She loved walking with his t-shirts on. She felt like princess in them, he always just shook his head at her with amusement.

She liked that pet names he called her.

She liked the duo they formed.

* * *

><p>Chicago won her heart at once. She couldn't believe him when Nik told her she was a small town girl. (<em>No, I'm not! Look how natural I look around those tall glass buildings! I'm made for the big city life!<em>)

"Welcome to the Windy City" Nik smiled at her while getting out of the car.

Tall buildings. Wait, did I say tall? Huge! Enormous! She could be just staring at the glass skyscrapers forever. Giants. She felt so small.

_The city has changed_, he stated, _you should have seen it in the 20s._

He seemed to know everything about... pretty much everything. The city used to be called "the Big Onion" (_Big Apple versus Big Onion,_ she chuckled). Al Capone lived here. She loved the short mafia facts he was working in from time to time.

"Did you dabble in bootlegging?" Her curiosity astounded him sometimes. She was a walking (and talking) box with never ending chain of questions inside.

"No. But my friends did. I got all the perks of being a silent partner in crime." He smirked.

They stood in front of the giant skyscraper, Caroline's neck hurt because of her head tilted to the back for so long. But she just couldn't stop staring. Her eyes were glued to the vast windows and the air of luxury that was surrounding the building.

The sun began to set.

"Let's come in." Nik said and took her hand.

* * *

><p>"How high are we going?" She asked as they entered the elevator.<p>

"To the top love. Straight to the top."

The penthouse apartment he got them made her head spin. It had an enormous living room with one wall made just of glass. The condo was towering above the city in an intoxicating way. And _oh the view_. The setting sun combined with the urban tower-block housing and city lights made Caroline feel on top of the world. The city was unfolding before her like a kingdom before a queen. _The_ queen!

She loved the warm colors of the walls (yellow) and furniture. Wooden floor. Soft, fluffy carpet made just so Caroline could walk barefoot on it. Everything seemed so comfortable. The leather couches, sofas and armchairs, all in chocolate brown. The warm lights and candles lit up the room and all she could say is,

"Wow."

She stood in the center of the living room and started to spin around with her arms widely spread.

He caught her before she fell down.

* * *

><p><em>Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind.<em>

"I can't believe I've let you convince me to go to the..." The words stuck in his throat. "Disney marathon!" He spat while they were sitting in a dark screening room. He wanted to take her out. She said, _let's go to the movies. I think I liked Disney, you know? _

Klaus was doing a series of mental facepalms while she was devouring popcorn like a maniac.

_Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast concealed himself inside his castle, with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world._

Caroline sniffed, _poor boy_. Klaus instantly felt a tad uneasy.

_If he could learn to love another, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken._

"Someone must love him! I demand it!" Caroline whispered in a very excited way.

_As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast? _

* * *

><p>"I am so moved. So. Moved." She sighed dramatically as they left the cinema in the middle of the night. Klaus was silent. She rambled on.<p>

"And when she- and he- and then-" She huffed and puffed. "I just can't even-"

"Caroline." He chimed in with a serious face. She stopped.

"Sorry. I talk too much. I suppose I used to do it a lot back then, right?" She smiled apologetically.

"What if I was a beast?" He threw her a questioning look. He seemed so serious that she stopped smiling and gulped.

"First, I would shove that singing candlestick up your ass." She deadpanned.

His eyes widened in surprise. She was still that headstrong Caroline he knew. She hadn't lost it. It was still in her. She was still full of light.

"Then you would fall in love with me, and we would live happily ever after?" He tried not to smile but the corners of his mouth went up slightly.

"Oh, I don't know. I think I'm too smart to be seduced by you." She winked.

He almost choked as she said this.

"Did I say something wrong?" She sounded worried.

Klaus' gaze got stuck on her. For a moment he seemed so distant, far away, lost in thoughts. Then he woke up from the daze.

"No. Everything's just perfect." He smiled at her, took her by the hand and started to walk down the street.

* * *

><p>While they were walking slowly towards their new condo, he told her everything about him. Well, almost. That he was a hybrid. A bad boy. A bastard son born out of his mother's fling. He told her about Mikael, his hatred towards Niklaus. That night she heard the sad story about the hybrid fighting his father and killing him eventually. He told her the story of his mother's revenge. He had siblings living somewhere out there, but they stayed conflicted. Grew <em>estranged<em>.

Niklaus Mikaelson had been living for a thousand years.

He had fought in ancient Rome.

He'd strolled down the corridors of a Tudor castle. He'd fuckin' _dined_ with _Henry VIII_, for God's sake!

He slept with Anne Boleyn (_I didn't want to know that, you know!_).

He'd roared during the Roaring Twenties (that made her laugh the most). _Did you know that such thing as penthouse was created during the twenties_, he asked her.

* * *

><p>The keys fell to the floor with a loud clank.<p>

He pinned her to the apartment door that shut behind them.

His lips felt... so familiar. They felt like home. She could swear she knew those hungry kisses he was bestowing right now on her, over and over again. His body was pressing so hard on her she could swear they were going to make a huge hole in the wooden thick door. Their tongues danced like crazy. His hands were wandering all over her back. Her hands were cupping his face. _Oh what thoughts she had in her dirty, dirty mind in that moment._ Her body heated up like iron over a fire - his was already consumed by a fierce, intense, passionate blaze. The blaze that was sweeping through both of them.

Oh the neck. _The neck!_ Klaus started to unbutton her shirt (_and that was a special modest shirt she chose in order not to provoke him!_). His tongue left a wet trail down her chest, arriving at her breasts. Caroline moaned loudly, but well, it was too late to be modest.

But when he reached out to unbutton her jeans, something cracked inside her. She went stiff. She stopped moving. Klaus noticed what was going on. It wasn't the first time she was withdrawing from the front-line. From their battlefield. Caroline, an eternal deserter.

"Sorry." She muttered and began to button her shirt up. "I just feel it's too soon for me. It's still like we have just met. I may not be a stranger to you at all, but you..."

He knew it was just a matter of time. He could wait until she decided to embrace the new Caroline and get involved in their relationship. Niklaus Mikaelson was a very, _very_ patient man if a case was worth the trouble.

"I know, love." He stroked her hair. "It's just- I mean, we used to-"

"-do it... often?" She smiled at him and, _wait, did she just blush? _

"Yes." He exhaled. Maybe her memory went away, but the frankness of reply stayed. He loved her straightforwardness. She had this awesome tendency to just shoot him with one sentence.

"I promise I will recover. Everything's going to be like it used to. Or even better." Caroline was honest with him. She really wanted to get over whatever nerve block she had.

_He was the only person she had in this crazy world._

"Ok, we've got a deal. Until then, please choose a separate bedroom, sweetheart. For your own good, and for the sake of my mental health." Klaus said.

She chose one with white walls and lavender drapes. The room was set in three colors, namely lavender, white and brown. It was girly, Caroline admitted, she knew it was furnished and decorated according to her taste. _Whatever taste I used to have_, she shrugged.

* * *

><p>She took a look at her closet. They were going on a shopping spree soon. She almost jumped up and down for joy, but decided to take care of this later. It was already <em>well<em> past midnight and she needed to sleep. She drained a blood bag (_I brought it for you because you used to hate the hunt, love._) and changed into her comfy pink (_pink? seriously? ok, I'm a terrible liar, I love it!_) pajamas and went to her huge bed. She hopped onto it and buried herself under the lavender covers.

One thing didn't let her fall sleep peacefully.

"Um. Nik?" She asked, waiting for some kind of sign that indicated that he wasn't asleep yet.

"Yes, love?" He appeared in the door-frame, black loose pajama pants hanging on his hips (_too low if you get my drift_, she scowled, mostly at her naughty thoughts) and a cotton deep-green t-shirt. Thank God he had the t-shirt on.

"Did you really come after me even though we had a rough fight before?" She asked awkwardly, biting her lower lip.

He smiled and nodded, then turned to leave the room. Before he left, he heard her saying,

"I'm glad you came."

* * *

><p><strong>Tres:<strong> Too sweet? Hey, he deserves some after his hard pursuit.

My heart grows and sings when I see your reviews. Yes yes yes, talk to me! Pretty please? :)

**SPOILERS:** Chapter 10 is called **Touch-a touch-a touch me**. *wink wink*


	11. Toucha toucha touch me

**A/N**: Erm. Yesterday I was literally _weeping my heart out_ watching Being Human (UK) s01e03 when Gilbert the Ghost died. I still sniff from time to time. Ok, now that I've shared my sorrow I feel a little better.

* * *

><p>Song: Glee Cast - ''Touch-a Touch-a Touch me'' (cover)<p>

My cheeks are **burning** **red**. Tell me if I fucked it up. Tell me if I didn't. _**Tell **__**me**_. I need to know.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

**Touch-a touch-a touch me**

_Now all I want to know is how to go_

_I've tasted blood and I want more, more, more_

_I'll put up no resistance, I want to stay the distance_

_I've got an itch to scratch, I need assistance_

She was a woman.

When she smiled at him seductively from the other end of a restaurant table and ordered another glass of wine.

When she chose a sexy black evening dress before going to the opera with him.

When she let him kiss the palm of her hand, nodding like a lady.

When she bought the twentieth pair of incredibly high and sexy heels.

When she insisted on cooking although they didn't really need to eat.

When she was gently yes suggestively swaying her hips to the rhythm of an old-school song.

When she was applying some more of that rich red lipstick on her luscious lips.

She was a girl.

When she was watching Disney movies and crying. _Mufasa, please don't die._

When she put on her pink pajamas and braided her blonde untamed locks.

When she declared a pillow war and almost beat him. Almost. They landed on a pile of soft, delicate, silk pillows and their noses touched.

When she was singing along with the radio and dancing around the kitchen, all covered in food.

When she enthused over and over again about the view from their roof terrace.

When she granted him a goodnight peck on the lips then squeaked and run away to her bedroom.

He scratched his chin (she liked that stubble) and run a hand through his messy hair, frustrated.

All that sexual tension between them was killing him.

* * *

><p>A month flashed by.<p>

Every day was different than the previous one. They visited the majority of the city attractions and frequently went to the movies. Sometimes she even let him choose.

* * *

><p>As time passed by, she noticed Nik was a possessive man. <em>You're a headstrong one, I am too, that's why sometimes we clash<em>, he told her. She displayed her true grit when one day they argued over an incident at one of the most classy Chicago clubs. A guy got both his legs broken because he dared to dance with Caroline.

_I'm not your possession!_ she raged.

_Yes, you are!_ he almost said, almost.

_I'm sorry, love, I don't know what got into me_, he said instead.

But the truth was that Klaus always considered her his possession. His little work of art. Except he would never hang her on the wall, of course.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile in Mystic Falls two Original brothers were having another bitter-sweet bonding time. Well, in fact Kol was having fun by giving Elijah hell.<p>

Kol Mikaelson decided to become more aware of the contemporary culture. Pop culture. He resolved to get to know his worst enemies, i.e. the vampire TV series.

"People watch this and get... ideas!" He snorted putting the first show on the DVD player.

About seven hours later he was sitting in the living room, totally dumbfounded. Elijah joined him.

"What is so interesting about this show?" He asked his younger brother who was... _drooling_.

"Look. At. That. Body. They don't make slayers like this anymore." Kol wiped his chin with his sleeve.

"A hot blonde vampire slayer that kicks vampires' asses and then fucks one of them. _Repeatedly_. Why Nik was keeping me in a coffin when the show was on?" He spat.

"I like that British librarian," Elijah concluded after another hour or so of sitting in front of their enormous TV. _Why doesn't it surprise me?_ Kol thought.

"He's... a decent man."

Kol rolled his eyes.

"A decent man? Seriously? Bro, do you even know one - one! - modern phrase?"

"O. M. G."

Kol grimaced. His brother might have impeccable manners but was as stiff as a poker.

"I will teach you how to speak properly." He frowned, with his I'm-on-a-mission-now face.

Elijah gulped. He was going to hell in a handbasket.

* * *

><p><em>I'm a predator, Caroline, you know that<em>, Nik said when she stopped him from killing an innocent man in the street. Nik was right, a little, maybe the man wasn't so innocent. He tried to rob them in the middle of the night in a shady alley. But they were vampires, the creatures on the top of the food chain, he could have left that foul crook with a broken arm. But instead he almost broke his neck.

When she rushed towards their condo, he seized her wrist roughly and jerked her body back. She fell into his hard chest and warm arms.

_Don't be angry, love._

* * *

><p>"Hell yeah!" Kol exclaimed while a couple was making out on the screen. "I was rooting for them since the very beginning. Come on, he's stronger, older, dangerous, badass, definitely awesome. He doesn't give a fuck about people. And the other one babysits a teenage redhead or bangs his freaky ex. Loser."<p>

Kol had been practically glued to the couch for the last few days. He grew quite a stubble.

"That's a one hot fairy waitress." He drawled and took a sip from a bottle of beer.

"I see you have a thing for strong blondes." Elijah smirked and looked back on the screen. He also had his favorite character on that show. The blonde lesbian vampire minion of Kol's new idol was smart and hot. He loved her witty one-liners. And the pumps.

* * *

><p>There was something disturbing and dark about him.<p>

When he gripped her hand harder than he should.

When he was sending threatening glances to every man that even looked at her.

When his hungry eyes lingered on her a little longer than they should.

When he got furious, heads would roll.

But he was also affectionate and caring.

When he was observing her while she was cooking, and when he was pretending that _it's delicious, love. Khhhh..._

When he was counting numerous enthralling stories about Al Capone and the prohibition.

When he brought her some blood bags because she had _cravings_.

When he was kissing the back of her hand.

She once caught herself staring at him while he was changing clothes.

All that sexual tension between them was killing her.

* * *

><p>Kol's existential crisis arrived with the third series.<p>

"Ok, now I'm confused. Why doesn't she fuck that incredibly rich and cunning vamp, that businessman?"

"Probably because she's banging that smart vampire detective. They are my OTP." Elijah slurred. A mountain of empty beer bottles rose behind the couch.

"Wait a minute." Kol's head turned slowly to face his brother. "Have you just said '_banging_'? Have you just said _OTP_?"

"Sure thing."

Kol beamed.

"There may be hope for you after all, brother."

They raised their bottles.

"Where's our sistah?"

"Rolling in the bed with Damon Salvatore, the vampire gigolo." Kol winced in disgust.

"BTW where's Niklaus?" Elijah was striking while the linguistic iron was hot.

"I wish I knew. Rolling in a bed with a cheap blonde call-girl, I assume." Kol smirked.

"It leaves you, me and-" Elijah raised his hand.

"-and the TV series." Kol gave him a high five.

* * *

><p>She was very excited about the date.<p>

_We're living together, but we're not dating_, she told him. This was nothing but true. They were spending almost every minute together, like a couple. They were a family, sort of. Companions. But they still weren't lovers. He sighed but played along with her anyways.

"It's high time! I'm going to get ready." She stood in front of him in sexy shorts and a casual t-shirt she'd stolen from his closet a while ago. His jaw regularly dropped at the sight of her long, slim legs. She was parading down the hallway of their apartment like a professional model. Klaus was sprawled on the chocolate brown couch, his hands were locked loosely behind his head, his feet rested on the small glass table. _Her legs. Those hips. _

_That's the difference between men and women_, he thought. _She's got, like, whole two hours before I knock on her bedroom door. How long can you be putting your make up on? _His mind was rambling on its own.

Caroline sat down in front of her dresser. They were seeing each other 24/7, but she still felt butterflies in her stomach at the thought of them dating.

A real date. With her flatmate. Literally, a guy next door. The door couldn't be any closer. But she insisted on him picking her up. _It's a tradition, Nik._

Two hours later she heard knocking on her door. Caroline jumped off a chair and straightened up.

"Good-" He looked her up and down, and froze. "-evening."

She looked stunning. Dressed to kill. At least to kill his self-control. A vivid red knee-length dress with one strap suited her pale complexion and blonde hair. It fitted her curves, it showed her legs. _Oh look at the line of her shoulders. Her collar bone. She must have been chiselled out of marble. _

He dressed up, too. His tonight motto was: dress to impress. And indeed, she was impressed. His black suit and a perfectly ironed white shirt looked classy, still casual enough without a tie. The first two buttons of the shirt were undone.

Before she could greet him, he pulled a single red rose from behind his back. _Oh that disarming boyish smile of his_. She gasped and smiled back.

Nik offered her his arm and she took it, proud to have such a gorgeous man at her side.

* * *

><p>Rebekah stretched on the bed. The night had just started and it was going to be a <em>long<em> one. Damon plopped onto the bed beside her, his bare chest was hypnotizing her.

''I was wondering,'' he started, ''oh where, oh where your hybrid brother would be?''

''Why is that bothering you?'' She raised an eyebrow. She didn't want to talk about Nik. She wanted Damon to be kissing her and never stop.

''Just asking. Barbie disappeared, too.'' He started to play with Rebekah's hair. It was _sooo_ distracting her.

''She went after her runaway boyfriend, or so I heard.'' She scoffed. Chasing after men! How _pathetic_.

Damon frowned. Caroline's car had been found abandoned by the road. _It's been almost two months now_. _There's something ominous brewing. _

''Are you going to stay like this all night?'' Rebekah pouted. ''Because I don't find your worried face sexy.''

''Why should I be worried?'' Damon smirked at her.

''You tell me. Because sometimes I think-''

''I'll show you.'' He got up and climbed on her. ''I'll show you why _you_ should be thinking only about _me _right now.''

Damon's lips touched hers and she forgot about the whole world.

* * *

><p>"So, basically, all the vampire shows are about vampires sleeping with hot stubborn blondes?" Elijah pondered. He was sure the plot seemed familiar, but a lot of alcohol made pondering somewhat harder.<p>

"Yeah." Kol took his empty bottle of beer and put it against his left eye like a small telescope. "And chasing after her golden vagina. Even that werewolf did that."

They both got lost in blurred drunk thoughts for a minute. Then Kol sighed and slid from the couch onto the floor.

"I would like to have my own TV show." He mumbled, laying sprawled on the ground. _Whoa, the ceiling is kinda cool. And the chandelier._

"How would you call it?" Elijah's head was dropping as were his eyes.

"Keeping up with the Mikaelsons, or something." He yawned.

* * *

><p><em>Touch-a touch-a touch-a touch me, I wanna be dirty<em>

_Thrill me, chill me, fulfill me_

_Creature of the night_

The elevator door closed and he pushed the button. It was going down slowly.

They were standing inside, shoulder by shoulder, patiently waiting for the elevator to reach the ground floor. He glanced furtively at her. She glanced fleetingly at him.

Their eyes met. And the world exploded.

Instead of going out, they got back to the condo and the door shut behind them with a loud bang.

He picked her up bridal style and carried her to the bedroom. He didn't bother to turn the lights on.

The darkness swallowed them somewhere on the soft bed covers. The touch was crucial. Essential. They had been _seeing_ each other every day, but they barely _touched_. Now it was the time to reverse that proportion.

There was no place for clothes in the pitch black darkness.

She shivered with pleasure when his weight fell on her. He crashed onto her like a wave. She loved how his big manly hands were traveling from her ankles up her legs towards the waist. His large palms were gliding slowly over her silky thighs. He wanted to remember and savor every inch of that skin.

That skin. It smelled like oranges and mint. Sweet, yet sharp and fresh. He buried his nose in the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply. It made her breath quicken significantly and she badly scratched his naked shoulder blades.

The touch was vital. How his hands were sliding over her curves. How his hands admired her flat stomach. How they enjoyed her breasts. How they caressed her arched back.

"You're a true work of art, sweetheart. _My_ _masterpiece_." He breathed into her ear, giving her goosebumps. _Yours_, she breathed.

His hips pressed at hers. She moaned, clutching at his back. The feel of him was driving her crazy. Her hands run down his toned stomach, they stopped at his waist and lingered there for a while, then started to work on the buttons.

Their naked bodies against each other made her smile, groan and sigh. Her eyes fluttered. Yes, he felt like home. He smelled like the woods in the evening. Green leaves. Fog. Dew.

He stopped kissing a sensitive spot between her breasts and looked up at her. The look at Caroline's face, tense with pleasure, was captivating.

"Don't- stop-" She panted.

"Never, love." He grinned. His lips sucked at her neck. She tilted her head back in ecstasy. Then she felt him. Entirely.

Electricity jolted through them. It wasn't a spark anymore. It was a thunderbolt. _Oh my-_ Her hands were buried in his hair, messing with it. Their hips were rocking fiercely and fast.

She was like an addiction to him.

Like a bad trip.

The more he was getting, the more he wanted.

He let a loud groan when she squeezed both his sides with her thighs. His every move was accompanied by one of her ragged breaths. _Faster. _ He was taking her here and now. The more she moaned, the more feral he got. _Faster. _He was an animal, she was a prey. _Harder._ He was ravaging her, devouring her, she surrendered. As they were getting to the brink of sheer bliss, the animal instinct completely took over. It guided them through guttural groans and moans to the ultimate pleasure. Then it came. They both froze for a split second, letting a long, euphoric moan. _Incredible._

When their bodies sank into the mattress, time stopped. The darkness remained.


	12. Waves

**A/N: ** I'm a lover, not a fighter, I'm a linguist, not a writer. (And obviously, I'm not a poet.) Here's my dirty little secret: I've quit smoking and I desperately needed something to make my hands busy. That's why I just... write stuff. But I'm not a writer.

**Sooo... Thank you for your incredibly kind reviews (omg omg I love them! have you seen it? 100 reviews! omg!) and your patience with me. :) Keep it up!**

Song: Deluka - ''Waves''

I upload things super fast, for now. When I'm back to work, it will slow down, but whatever, here we go with CH 11!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

**Waves**

_Shall I speak the truth or shall I bite my tongue?_

_This fighting talk is tiresome_

_I'm tired I'm tired I need to close my eyes_

_But I know that home is like a million miles_

* * *

><p>There is something called the observer effect. It states that the very act of observation changes the thing that's being observed.<p>

Does it apply to love? Does the very fact of your loving somebody change that person?

* * *

><p>Caroline moaned quietly and rolled onto her left side. She felt a faint ray of sunshine on her naked skin. <em>It must be early in the morning.<em> She opened her eyes lazily, expecting to see the face of her sleeping lover.

But Nik was gone.

She jumped out of bed and covered her naked body only with a black silk robe that she snatched hastily from the closet.

After searching the whole condo, _Nik? Nik, where are you?_, she sank into a chair by the kitchen counter and hid her face in her hands.

_Alcohol. Alcohol is good. Alcohol is vampire's second best friend. Coffee is the third._

She drank three glasses of wine one after another.

_Everything in moderation!_

_Ok, let's have one more. _

Two hours and ten glasses of wine later, she heard the door unlock. Nik was tiptoeing around the apartment. He carefully poked his head out from behind the corner and saw Caroline's fragile back dressed in a sexy thin black robe.

He sneaked up behind her like a shadow, _one step, two steps, almost here_, almost ready to attack the nape of her neck with his lips, _one more step, and- _

"I woke up. You were gone." Her harsh voice made his lips stop an inch from her neck.

"I've been sitting here _alone_ for three hours, I've drunk about ten glasses of wine." She slurred.

"My apologies, love. It was just a boring business that needed some attending."

"What business?"

He stayed silent. _She shouldn't know_, he thought. _At least not yet._

Caroline took his silence as an unequivocal answer.

"So, don't let it wait for you any longer." She defiantly stood up and marched out of kitchen.

"Where are you going?"

"To attend to a boring business that needs attending."

"Caroline-"

She slammed the bedroom door shut.

* * *

><p>Damon slammed the door after him as he entered the Mikaelson's mansion. <em>Where is that little Original scumbag?<em> He was standing and looking around, when Miss Rebekah Mikaelson herself, dressed in a cheerleader uniform, appeared in the hall.

"Well, well, well. If you're here to get some hot Original loving, then you'll be sadly disappointed." She pouted. Damon blinked at her.

"I'm on my way to lead a cheerleading practice, and later I'm helping Matt with the school dance. I'm the committee leader now." She announced pompously like a true socialite she aspired to be.

"But it was Caroline who used to do all these things." Damon frowned.

"Well," Rebekah batted her eyelashes, "she isn't there anymore, is she? And you know what they say, the show must go on." She sent him a tight, false smile and went to her car.

Damon found Kol the Scumbag sleeping on a couch in the living room, with TV humming in the background.

"Wake up, sleepyhead!" Damon shouted straight into Kol's ear, making him fall off the couch.

"What are you doing here, you dick?" He just had an erotic dream about Sookie Stackhouse.

"I don't have time for petty details so I'll come straight to the point. Where's Caroline?" Damon spat. Kol raised his eyebrows in utter surprise, and then he burst out laughing.

"How would I even know?" He snorted and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows.

"She's been gone for almost two months! Elena's freaking out!" Damon wanted to punch the kid in the face with brass knuckles.

"It's no biggie. She's after her runaway groom. I'm sure she'll be back soon and she'll grovel at my feet."

"Her car was found abandoned in a parking lot. And your brother is missing, too. Do you think that I don't know how to do the math?"

_Well,_ Kol smirked at him. This was enough for Damon to flip the lid. He grabbed the youngest Mikaelson by the collar and threw him at a glass table that was standing a few meters away.

"You _brainfucked_ her, damn it! She left because of your demented, delusional mind!" Damon raged, his eyes almost black, his nostrils flared.

"What do you want me to do now?" Kol hissed, picking the shattered glass out of his forearms.

"You're coming with me. You know your brother well. And I need a vampire who can compel other vampires, just in case."

"I'm not going to look for her. _She_ will come to _me_, not the other way round." The Original spat and a chip of glass fell from his hair onto his nose.

"My vampire sense is tingling and I've got a premonition that our lovely blonde is with your favorite hybrid brother now." Damon sang with vicious grin. Kol's face hardened and his lips tightened. He gritted his teeth.

"You're not kidding, are you?"

"Nope."

"When are we leaving?"

* * *

><p>"I've booked two tickets to Paris." He said after finding her standing by the kitchen counter in the afternoon. She was chopping onion with an unusual fervor. "Are you still angry with me?"<p>

"It's not about buying me off with a trip to Paris." _Chop. Chop. Chop!_ "I've been sitting here _alone,_ Nik. I realized that I have no one else to turn to." _Chop chop chop-_ "That, if you left me alone, I would have nowhere to go. I don't have a _past."_

"I will never leave you." He promised. Or maybe threatened. "We both have a future, we have the whole world to see and another thousand years to live, Caroline. You know who you are."

She just kept on chopping.

"Come on, love." He closed the space between them, making her back stuck against the kitchen counter. The onion and the knife fell to the floor. He blocked her body by putting his arms on her both sides. She was trapped between the counter and his body. His body that set her blood on fire. He leaned forward and inhaled her scent. She still smelled of the passion they were sharing last night. It turned him on faster than he could even realize.

"Do you know how you make me feel?" He purred into her neck. She gulped and sighed. Caroline did know. She nodded.

"Then stop worrying, love. I'll give you everything. Everything you want." His breath was still lingering on her collarbone. Klaus slid the robe off her shoulders and started to lick her neck. The traces his wet tongue was leaving made her shiver. He grabbed her waist with one hand and her round butt with another. Her robe dropped to the floor as he sat her down on the counter. He stood between her long legs that wrapped around his waist like ivy.

Their faces were only inch apart, his lips lingered only an inch away. He tilted his head to the side and looked straight into her uneasy deep-blue eyes. He was patiently waiting for her reaction, with his hands firmly resting on her waist.

Silence hung over the room.

He smirked when Caroline's hands eventually traveled to the bottom of his shirt. She yanked the shirt up and clung onto him, feeling his bare torso against her naked chest. A hail of hot, wet kisses fell onto her collarbones and breasts. Caroline closed her eyes, giving up to the wave of pleasure. Soon the only thing that mattered was her man moving inside her, in and out, and her heavy panting that filled every corner of the kitchen.

_You know what it means if we don't deliver_

_Baby you're the gun and I'm your trigger_

* * *

><p>"So, are we now like the Winchester brothers?" Kol grinned while Damon kept his eyes on the road. "You know, slaying monsters and solving puzzles."<p>

"Did you take your meds?" Damon grimaced. This guy was turning into a TV addict.

"What about your precious Elena? Aren't you worried about leaving her with Elijah?" Kol had a blast torturing Damon the Driver. He knew the vampire wouldn't take his hands off the steering wheel.

"Stefan's there to protect her."

"Rrrrrright." The Original snickered.

"Why are you so worried about Caroline staying with Klaus?" Damon bit back. Kol just turned his head away to look through the window.

"What do you two stalkers see in her? Seriously?"

"If you don't see anything, why are you coming to her rescue?" Kol stuck out his tongue at the driver.

"She's just a friend. I'm bringing her back so Elena doesn't freak out anymore."

"Nonsense!" Kol hit his fist against the window. "You feel guilty."

"Are you insane?"

"Yes, yes you do."

"You and your bastard brother made her life living hell. You two are simply obsessed with her." Damon hissed. He gripped the steering wheel even tighter and narrowed his eyes. If the wheel was alive, he would choke it to death.

"I'm sure you know that feeling." Kol chuckled and turned on the radio.

* * *

><p>Thanks to <em>compulsion<em>, and not to Damon's allure nor Kol's charm, they got info they needed. _A mysterious, dangerous man took a blonde girl away. He was tall and gloomy, a shadow of death was following him!_ Both vampires winced at the description of Klaus and just got back to Damon's car.

As they sat inside, Kol felt a sudden brainwave. He got enlightened.

"I think I know where he is. At least, in which city."

"How do you know that?"

"And how did _you_ know that the ripper traces all over the country belonged to your whiny brother?" The answer was obvious.

They hit the road again.

* * *

><p>He loved sketching her. Everything about her was fascinating. Her hair. Shoulders. How she touched her delicate neck from time to time, not noticing this peculiar habit. How her small nose wrinkled when she laughed. How her thighs welcomed him every time Klaus needed to feel her.<p>

He wasn't a master of gentle everyday caresses. Of course, he knew he was an amazing lover. Come on, a thousand years of experience has many advantages. But Caroline knew one thing that he had never learned. How to show affection without any ulterior motive.

She used to touch his cheek lightly, to kiss his nose just for fun, to hug him, to embrace him just because she wanted some intimacy. All he knew was how to kiss the back of her hand with admiration. He wanted to make her happy. Nobody had ever taught him how to connect with people, except for her.

"How long do you want me to stay in this position?" She grumbled, laying on her side on the soft brown carpet, wearing a laced black lingerie, propping her head with one hand.

He put the sketchbook away and crouched in front of her.

"Would you like to go out tonight, sweetheart?" He asked gently.

Caroline briefly thought his offer over. _If we stay home, it will be another evening full of wild sex and champagne. Not that I mind wild sex but... If we go out, maybe we will talk more. Like we used to._

"Sure. Any ideas?" She smiled.

"Indeed, one. But it's a surprise." He grinned.

* * *

><p>Elena opened the door and gasped.<p>

"Elijah! What a surprise."

"Hello, Elena.'' He drawled. '' I've heard you're worried about your friend." He said, waiting for her to let him in. She did. She also offered him some tea.

"Since Caroline went away, I don't know what to do with myself." She sighed.

"What about your other friends?"

"Bonnie's location spell meant to find Caroline has failed. She's going through her own drama, anyway. Matt, as far as I know, is helping Rebekah with the upcoming school dance. And Stefan's..." She hesitated. Stefan's what?

"He's fighting his own demons." She stuttered, finally.

"I can stay with you," Elijah offered. "If you want." He added.

Elena blushed. She wanted him to keep her company. She wanted to talk with him, to spend some time with him, because Elijah was older, smarter, experienced and charming.

"It would be great." She smiled and poured him some more tea from a white old kettle.

"I hoped you'd say so. I brought you a DVD with a TV series that should put some smile on your beautiful face."

Elena choked on her tea. This was that awkward moment when Elena felt that he must have taken some kind of stupid pills.

"Since when have you been watching... TV series?" She looked at him suspiciously.

"Kol showed me some of them a few days ago. I've done some research and I've got one for you, as well."

"Really?" She smiled, embarrassed.

"There's a lot of high-schoolers singing and dancing. You'd love this." Elijah seemed so proud of his closeness with Mother Popculture.

Elena sighed and gestured towards the sitting room.

"Shall we, then?"

* * *

><p>"I've called earlier today and made a reservation. Winchester." Kol grinned to Damon as they stood in the reception of a small hotel in Chicago. The older Salvatore just made a face.<p>

The fat woman around her fifties, with short curly red hair and enough make up to be mistaken for a drag queen looked them both up and down. Then smiled kindly. Too kindly.

"Oh. Of course, yes." She opened a thick book with a leather cover and searched for their reservation number. A minute passed. Then another one. Damon rolled his eyes.

"Here it is!" She squeaked and gave them the key. "I want to assure you, gentlemen, that this hotel is one hundred percent tolerant. We love as we love, and that is the only thing that matters!" She gushed.

Damon and Kol looked at each other with raised eyebrows, but took the key without a word and headed towards the stairs. Then it hit them.

"No!" Kol yelled to her from the corridor. "We're straight!"

"Of course." She smacked her lips. "Of course you are, honey." She winked at him and went back to reading whatever cliche love story she'd been reading before they came in.

* * *

><p>They left the theater about midnight. Caroline's cheeks were burning with excitement.<p>

"I love it! I totally love it!" She exclaimed.

They went to a musical. Of course, it was "Chicago." Now, on their way home, she was humming all the songs she managed to remember. Klaus was embracing her with his right arm. They were walking slowly through a park.

"And admit it, they had it coming!" She pointed a threatening finger at his nose.

"I wouldn't be so sure, darling. There are always two sides of the same coin."

"You're not defending that men, are you?" She grimaced.

"Of course not, love, but-"

"Good, because they lied to those women and hurt them and the ladies had every right to punish them!" Caroline obviously felt the feminist spirit inside her troubled heart. "How could you love somebody who lies to you or hurts you?" She shook her head with irritation.

Klaus made a mental note to pay more attention to the details of any movie or play they will ever go to. _It was meant to be about fun, not about a guilty conscience!_

"I'm just saying, love, that it's never that simple." He gritted his teeth.

"Nik, have I ever lied to you before? When we... you know, when I was normal." She asked quietly.

"You are normal now. There's nothing wrong with you." He looked at Caroline, at her sad face.

"Have I?" Her eyes were piercing his own now.

"Why is this bothering you?" Klaus wanted to turn back time. They could have stayed at home and have sex. It could have been so simple. _Why am I such an idiot?_

"Because I don't remember anything. You keep telling me mostly the good things that happened, but I want to know everything. Even the dark secrets." She stopped and blocked his way. He was getting more and more frustrated.

"Tell me everything, Nik." She pleaded. "Because every day I wake up with a dreadful feeling that somebody has stolen my life from me."

Klaus grabbed her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes.

"I don't know who did it to you, Caroline, but lately I've been thinking that _maybe_ you should treat it as a _gift_." He hissed.

"How can you say that?" Caroline stood there, dumbstruck.

"Because I've done so many things I wish I could forget, but I can't." Klaus said through gritted teeth. "You started over like a _tabula_ _rasa_, but I didn't. Sometimes, Caroline, ignorance is bliss." With this words he walked away towards their apartment.

Caroline sat down on a bench and kept staring absently into space, her gaze blank and cold.

* * *

><p>You need to have a past to be able to change. Without any past, how would you know you've changed?<p> 


	13. Hey na na

**A/N: **It's kinda sorta filler chapter, but it contains some important... details. :)

**Thanks for your support, guys. **

**Happy Kleaster! :)**

Song: Katie Herzig – ''Hey na na''

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

**Hey na na**

_Your eyes are like a blue sky, blue sky, blue_

_You're floating in the fountain, in the fountain of youth_

_I bet you have an ocean, secret little potion_

_I bet you have a lover who's as fine as you_

He was laying on the couch, his right arm above his eyes, covering them. The room was drowning in silence. Caroline opened the door and sneaked inside, her heels were clacking as she headed to the living room.

"If you came to lay a guilt trip on me, then please-"

"I'm sorry."

Klaus raised his hand and opened one eye. She sat down on the floor next to the couch, her head facing his.

"I'm, sorry, Nik. You've been taking care of me all this time and all I do is complain." Caroline looked apologetically at him.

Klaus only gritted his teeth.

"So. I've decided to move on. It's no use crying over spilt milk. We have a good life here, don't we? Let's live it." She nodded her head with determination written all over her face.

He got up and sat down next to her on the ground, his back against the couch. Then Klaus placed her hand in his and covered it with his other palm. They were sitting there like two scared kids that were hiding from monsters living under their beds.

"Remember when I told you how you turned me down at the ball?" He asked her, gazing fixedly at their entwined fingers.

She nodded.

"That evening you told me that I'm incapable of connecting with people, that I can't understand them, that I think no one will ever love me because my father didn't accept me." His eyes were still looking firmly at their hands.

"Did I? Wow. What a diagnosis."

"Yeah. You almost went all Freud on me." He smiled, but more to himself than to anyone else. An absent, melancholic, faint smile.

She smiled lightly, too.

"I have to tell you one thing I have never told anyone. After one thousand years you feel nothing. You keep pushing and crossing boundaries in order to feel, but all you get is anger, hate, frustration, bloodlust."

She wanted him to look her in the eyes, but his gaze didn't move. He seemed torn between the past and the present.

"But with you, I feel different things. It doesn't make me an angel, hell no. I _hate_ people." He smirked.

"But I really, truly... _care_ about you." Then his eyes found hers. His hurt, lonely blue eyes. She squeezed his hand tightly.

"I know." She whispered with a reassuring smile.

Caroline's head was resting on his shoulder when they fell asleep. The darkness enveloped Chicago, the city lights and candles were the only things that lit up the room.

* * *

><p>The first day of the Winchester Mission, as they called it, came down to looking around the city and asking the right people.<p>

"We'll split." Kol said, handing a piece of paper with some words listed on it. "This is the list of places he used to visit often. You find him, call me. I'll do the same."

"How can I trust you?" Damon squinted his eyes at the Original.

"I think we've already had this conversation once." Kol smirked.

They decided that Kol would take the central area and west side, and Damon would take care of the south and southwest side.

Kol headed towards the Loop for it was always Klaus' favorite area. Theaters, the Art Institute, the Civic Opera House, and of course Grant Park. _If he is really here, the Loop will be the first shot_, Kol thought. He took his cell phone and dialled a number.

"Eddie!" Kol sang. "Guess who's calling?" He smirked. Eddie was the best real estate agent in Chicago. _If you lived in the city for two hundred years like I do, you would be the best, too_, Eddie used to say. Don't let the appearances mislead you. Eddie might have a teddy-bear name, but he wasn't a soft-hearted guy. Even Klaus used to say that Eddie is, to put it simply, _a tough motherfucker_.

The Originals didn't care, because they were tougher.

"So, have you seen him?" Kol listened carefully what the voice was saying, then pouted. "Bullshit. You better tell me, or I will pay you a visit and we'll talk face to face. And if you're on vervain, it'll just take more time and _fun."_ He hissed, grinning wickedly. Eddie gave up. Kol wrote down the address and hung up. _The idea to keep Damon Salvatore occupied was brilliant_, Kol the Narcissus gave himself a standing ovation. _Until I find out what's going on, the Winchester Mission stays on hiatus_.

* * *

><p>Klaus fell on the bed, shirtless and surprised, and suddenly Caroline was straddling him, pinning his hands down and fervently kissing his neck. Then her lips trailed down towards his bellybutton, and he growled with pleasure. He loved the moments when she was taking control. She seemed to actually move on. And, what was the most important thing, she showed him a lot of affection. She was halfway there, unbuttoning his jeans, when they heard the doorbell ring.<p>

Caroline and Klaus jumped off the bed, dismayed.

"Stay here," he said. "I'll check it. It's nothing, I'm sure." Not bothering to put a t-shirt on, Klaus left the bedroom. Caroline sighed and sat down on the bed, frustrated.

Klaus opened the door and his eyes widened in shock, his mouth hung open.

"Hello, brother." A familiar voice said. Kol was standing in front of him, in his usual attire a.k.a jeans and leather jacket. Last time Klaus had been so freaked out was when he'd seen Kol undaggered. He sneaked through the door and shut it firmly.

"What are you doing here?" Klaus hissed.

"Interrupting your sexy time with Caroline, I guess." Kol gave a half-suppressed laugh. "If I were you, I'd let me in and be nice. I'm not the only one looking for you." A glimmer of amusement flickered in his eyes.

"Something bad happened to Caroline." Klaus' jaw tightened.

"Something worse than you in her bed?" Kol's smirk was shark-like. It didn't bode well. Never.

Klaus ignored Kol's comment and cleared his throat.

"She's lost her memory. Somebody took it away." He whispered. _Oh conspiracy._

"What?" His brother spat. "You must be fuckin' kidding me."

"I found her at that bar. She remembered everything about the world, but her identity, her history - everything's gone." Klaus said and Kol knew it wasn't a sick joke. Kol stood there, utterly shocked, and his mind was working at full throttle.

"Does she remember anyone from Mystic Falls? You? Me?" He asked carefully.

Klaus shook his head. _No_.

"Well, if she's sleeping with you she indeed must have lost her mind." Kol flinched.

"Spare me your comments, Kol. What do you want?" Klaus wasn't in a mood for bickering. In fact, his mood rapidly fell from _'I'm-so-horny-I'm gonna-explode'_ level to '_Oh-shit-oh-shit-oh-shit_'.

Kol just smiled.

"I think I will stay for a while with you two. I missed this city, you know."

Klaus' nostrils flared. "Don't you even dare-"

"I don't think you're in a position to give me orders, brother." Kol leaned against the wall. "It's so simple, Nik. Introduce me, tell her she and I knew each other back in the old good times. I'm sure you'll find a spare room for me in your comfy love nest."

"What if I don't?" Klaus' eye twitched.

"I'll call my best buddy Damon Salvatore who happens to be in Chicago now, too. And believe me, you don't want him to jog her memory." Kol's derisive grin spread on his face.

"Come in."

They walked into the living room and Caroline stepped inside shortly after.

"Nice place. I knew you'd enjoy yourself in the lap of luxury." Kol laughed. Then he sensed somebody behind him and turned around. The blonde girl in a silk black robe took a few steps back.

Klaus was by her side in a second.

"Don't worry, love. It's my brother. Kol." Klaus said reluctantly.

Their guest - a guy around her age, with messy light brown hair, fox-like eyes and a well-defined jaw - came up to Caroline and hugged her tightly. She stiffened.

"It's good to see you again, Care." He said, still hugging her, with a wolfish smile plastered on his face, looking straight into Klaus' eyes in defiance.

"Um." She was confused. "Your brother. Right. Do we know each other?"

"We used to spend a lot of time together, actually." Kol released her, but still was holding her hands in his.

"Oh." Caroline felt weird. She had just embraced who she was, her life without any past, her relationship with Nik, and now somebody appeared like a ghost of her past life and she didn't like it. At all. She sensed trouble.

She had a feeling that Kol meant calm before the storm.

* * *

><p>Next day Kol found her sitting in front of their large TV screen, watching "Desperate Housewives." Klaus was gone because of business matters again and left Kol in charge of Caroline just in case Damon was snooping about.<p>

"It's a terrible shame that you don't remember me. I liked you. I mean I still do." He plopped on the couch and sank beside her. With his shaggy hair and sleepy eyes he looked so... _harmless_.

Caroline looked at him, amused.

"Really? What did you like about me, precisely?" Her pugnacious tone only cheered him up more.

"Well. You're a pretty little thing with a sharp tongue."

"Aren't you a prick." She stuck out her tongue at him.

"See?" He grinned proudly. "We still get along quite well." He winked.

Caroline couldn't help it and started to laugh. She looked into his joyful eyes. Maybe he's not that bad.

Kol looked at her smiling face. She had changed, yet she had stayed the same. She was indeed something special.

* * *

><p><em>I've got a little secret too, I've got a mad little crush on you<em>

_I wonder if you notice, wonder if you see_

_I wonder if you ever want to dance with me_

_(We shall never talk about such things, such things)_

* * *

><p>When Klaus got back home, he heard a peal of laughter coming from the kitchen. Apparently Caroline and Kol were having a good time. And several glasses of wine, too.<p>

"-and then you did it!"

"Noooo!" She cried in shock and started to giggle uncontrollably, her cheeks glowing.

"True story! You puked on my favorite shirt!"

She just couldn't stop laughing hysterically. Tears were falling down her cheeks. The clank of keys being put on the kitchen counter got their attention.

"I see you two get on like a house on fire." Klaus drawled.

"It's good, isn't it? Since she's going to be my sister-in-law." Kol beamed at Klaus. Klaus bit his lower lip. Caroline choked on her wine.

"You silly! Ahahahahahahah." Caroline laughed nervously. _How awkward_.

"Just sister, then." Kol offered. "I've been always _particularly_ fond of you, Caroline." He said to her, but his steely eyes were staring at Klaus. Kol's face hardened and the warning written on it was clear.

* * *

><p>Damon entered their hotel room, not paying attention to the receptionist who kept smiling at him in a creepy way. He'd been searching for Klaus all day. He'd been to all the places Kol had written down. Nobody was useful or cooperative.<p>

He shut the door and looked around. Kol's things were no longer there.

"Kol Mikaelson." Damon muttered, irritated and disappointed with his naive self. "You scumbag."

* * *

><p>Kol's task was to keep Caroline occupied while Klaus was off to his shady business. Kol could only suspect it was about hybrids and taking care of Mystic Falls troublesome residents from a distance. As much as Klaus loathed his younger brother now, he had to admit Kol was a useful tool. He entertained Caroline by telling her funny stories from the past, and by fooling around in general. By being himself without irritating, torturing or killing people around. Thanks to Kol's company Caroline was mostly in a good mood. Her frustration lessened, therefore her libido enhanced. Klaus couldn't be more <em>satisfied<em>.

Right now Kol and Caroline were busy tossing paper balls into plastic cups standing on the glass table in the living room. She was still in her (_hideous_! - Kol's comment) pajamas and he decided to stick to a t-shirt and jeans.

"So," Kol started, "Bill or Eric?"

"Eric, duh." Caroline snorted.

"Why?"

"He's a bad boy. Women love bad boys."

"Speaking of bad boys, how are the things between you and my brother?" He asked innocently. Caroline seemed taken aback a little but kept her composure.

"Great." She threw another ball and missed.

"Is he still so... short-tempered?" Kol tossed his ball and scored a point. Caroline hesitated.

"I don't think so." Caroline missed again.

"Well then. It seems that not only seasons change." Kol smiled and tossed a ball at her.

"In fact he's very caring." Caroline felt a sudden need to defend Nik.

"But he bosses around, doesn't he?" Kol winked at her playfully. She let out a laugh.

"Yeah. But he does everything to make me happy."

"Is he succeeding?" Kol's eyes were observing her cautiously.

Caroline scratched her head. Did Nik really make her happy? He was the only solid thing she had in her newly found life. He catered to her every whim. The way he looked at her - with admiration and need - all that did make her happy. The way he adored her body made her happy. How he tirelessly kept on sketching her although she was giving him hell while he was doing it. How he said that she was full of light.

"Yes." She said, smiling to herself. "He is."

Kol didn't say anything, just tossed the last paper ball into a cup. Score.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Kol?" Caroline asked, feeling a wave of _sisterly zest._ Kol pouted and turned away, looking for a bottle of whiskey that was stashed somewhere near the couch.

"I thought I had a terrific candidate for this honorable post." He smirked bitterly. The bottle was standing right behind the couch. He grabbed it with satisfaction and went to the kitchen. He got back with two drinks.

"Thanks." Caroline said as he handed her a glass. "What happened to the girl?"

"She chose the other guy." Kol raised his glass and downed it with one gulp.

"Well. It's her loss." Caroline wanted to be supportive.

"You have no idea." Kol laughed, looking through the giant window in the living room. A clock struck twelve noon. The city was buzzing with life. Honking cars, busy people, that familiar city din. Haste, everyday routine, people living so fast that they forgot why they are alive. _Stupid humans,_ he thought.

"So, when are you two lovebirds getting married?" Kol asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Caroline spat out the liquid back to her glass and shot him a terrified look. _Whaaaat_?

Kol laughed outright at her.

"Just kidding, babe. But you should have seen your face."

_And oh, before you go, before you go_

_Let me just take one last glance love_

_Oh, before you go, before you go_

_Could you tell me what's my chance love_

* * *

><p>The drone of traffic buzzed in the vampire's ear. Damon waited for a certain person to pick up. <em>Just pick up the damn phone<em> _already_! Finally, the voice said,

"What do you want?"

"Guess who's in Chicago? Except for my celebrity-like ass, of course." Damon hummed. "Big Bad Wolf and his sidekick, Superscumbag." He spat.

"I couldn't care less." Damon could swear the voice just shrugged.

"I'm pretty sure that they keep their favorite Barbie hostage."

"You're lying."

"Believe me, if we talk about love triangles, I'm the best guy to diagnose them."

"I'm coming." The voice hung up.

"Checkmate." Damon shoved the phone into his pocket.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Any conspiracy theories? :) Let me hear ya! *wink wink*

Wanna keep up with the Mikaelsons /find /follow /ask /bully me? (**liarfaker** tumblr com)


	14. Cold Coffee

**A/N: **Ok, I know this chapter is crap and I've got a killer hangover and I'm dying and UGH! I swear I'll never drink again but I just want to be through with ch 13 before I get back to work. Please bear with me bravely like you always do. And review, because I know you'll want to yell at me.

Love,

K.

Songs: The one and only Ed Sheeran - "Cold Coffee" & Gloria Gaynor - "I Will Survive"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13<strong>

**Cold Coffee**

_She's like cold coffee in the morning _

_I'm drunk off last nights whiskey and coke _

_She'll make me shiver without warning _

_And make me laugh as if I'm in on the joke _

Strong arms embraced her naked chest and brought her closer to him. They were lying in the bed, their naked bodies wrapped in white sheets, like in a perfect picture stolen from a Hollywood movie. Perfection. The clock showed 8 am. She just yawned and cuddled up for warmth. Her forehead rested against his chin, and she felt a light peck of his lips. She smiled with her eyes still closed, let the moment last forever, will you?

_And you can stay with me forever _

_Or you could stay with me for now _

Her head was resting on his torso while they were slowly getting back to reality.

"So, what's that shady business that makes you leave me every day." Her finger was drawing circles on his chest.

He tensed a little, but took a deep breath and spoke.

"It's something... some people I need to take care of. A long and boring story, love."

"I want to know. If it's something important to you..." She pouted.

"It's nothing, really. I'm just organizing our wedding, sweetheart." He jabbered.

"What?" She instantly got up straight, her hair tangled up, her face terrified.

He kept that serious face of his for a moment, but then just burst out laughing heartily.

"Don't worry, love, vampires don't get married!" He was still convulsed with laughter.

She sulked. "That wasn't funny."

"Yes, it was, actually."

"No!" She gritted her teeth and almost got out of bed when a hand gripped her right wrist and he yanked her back into the bed.

"Caroline," he purred _- oh how she loved when he did that! -_ and nuzzled her hair.

She capitulated. There was no use struggling with his morning charm. Or with his charm in general.

* * *

><p>They met Kol in the kitchen, making coffee.<p>

"Nik, I need to talk to you. In private." He said and all of them instantly knew that something was on the cards. Caroline let them alone, heading to the bathroom for a nice hot shower. Or bath, maybe. With bubbles.

When she was back, the Mikaelsons were sitting in the room on the couch, looking upset.

"What's wrong?" She stuttered.

"We need to find someone coming to Chicago before that person finds us." Kol said.

"We have to leave you here, love, please stay in the apartment and keep yourself occupied for a few hours. I hope it won't take long." He kissed her on the cheek and left the condo with Kol tagging along.

The doors shut, but she was still standing in the hall.

"Sure. Have fun. Don't worry about me. Yup. I'll be perfectly fine." She muttered and looked around. What to do, what to do? Her eyes fell onto the home stereo system. "Ok. That will do."

A couple of minutes later Caroline was on her private stage, with a hairbrush as a microphone, and with music booming all over the place.

"_Did you think I'd crumble?_" She pointed a finger at an invisible enemy. "_Did you think I'd lay down and die? Oh no, not I! I will survive!_" She arched her back and struck her fist in the air in a dramatic pose. "_Ooooh as long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive-_"

_-Ding dong!- _

The music died. Someone was at the door, and a _second_ ago she was singing her heart out like a former diva on rehab. Great job.

_-Ding dong!-_

"Shit!" She spat. She tiptoed to the door and leaned against the wood.

_-Ding dong!-_

"I know that you're there. Open up, Klaus!" She heard a man's voice. Klaus? Whoever came here, was probably a vampire, so without an invitation he could kiss her ass. Feeling relieved and stronger at once, she turned on her heel and opened the door.

She can handle whatever son of a bitch-

_-with piercing blue eyes, a gorgeous face and tempting lips-_

-whatever son of a bitch was there.

The man seemed to be as surprised as she was, maybe even more. That's the thing with surprises, they just tend to pop out and turn your world upside down.

"Caroline?" He blinked.

"Stranger?" She uttered.

"Stop gaping and invite me in. Klaus can be here any time."

"You mean Nik? Niklaus?"

"Barbie, are you and Kol on the same meds? Let me in damn it!" He rested his hands on the door frame, towering over Caroline.

"Why should I?" She asked raising her eyebrows and shaking her head, totally confused.

"Fuck. He drugged you. Again." Damon banged his fist against the wall and brought the hand to his mouth shortly after.

"What did he do to you?" He sighed.

Caroline was getting tired of the loony stranger at her door.

"Listen, you... Mister." She pouted. _Oh no, not I! I will survive!_ She sang in her head. "I do not exactly like being bullied so please go poof or my man will bite off your pretty head and shove it up your ass." She struck a pose that seemed the most bold one to her and looked defiantly into the stranger's eyes. Then she raised an eyebrow. ''Seriously? Did I say pretty?''

"Shit. It's worse than I expected. He's _brainwashed_ you." That last statement really vexed the blonde.

"Oh just get lost, you dick." She tried to close the door shut, but the guy stopped her. He took a folded picture out of his pocket and handed it over to Caroline. Two girls fooling around on a football pitch. A pretty brunette, smiling. And... and she herself. Caroline gasped. Then he handed her another photo. Caroline and a handsome dark-haired guy with full lips and lovely eyes. They looked like a couple. Was he...? In the third photo Caroline was stuck between two men. One of them, that one who was making a face in the picture, was standing now in front of her. The other was smiling at her from the photo. _Nice hair_, she thought.

"What's this? Who are these people? How did you get that?" She hissed, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I brought them so people can identify you. All these photos belong to _you_. What do you remember?" The man asked her. She gulped. Nik was the only one she remembered. He was the only one who created her current world.

"Nothing." She whispered.

Damon suddenly felt incredibly sorry for her. The girl went through hell, and probably coming back from it was going to be even worse.

She sighed and wiped a single tear that fell down her cheek.

"Come in."

* * *

><p>They were sitting in the kitchen, Caroline's hands holding a coffee mug were shaking. Damon scratched his neck. He didn't even knew how to start.<p>

"Caroline, what happened?"

"I woke up one day in a hotel room without any memories. Nik found me."

"You mean... Klaus?"

"Who's Klaus?" Her voice was trembling.

"The guy who wanted to sacrifice you and your boyfriend to break the curse? The guy who wanted to kill your best friend Elena? The bastard that keeps on threatening everybody in Mystic Falls? The hybrid terrorist?" Damon - a master of tact and timing - realized that maybe it was too much for Caroline. Well, too late. She seemed so terrified that Damon began to worry about her mental health. Well, a bit too late for this, as well. Caroline hid her face in the palms of her hands and tried to put all the pieces of this sick, twisted puzzle together.

But she couldn't.

* * *

><p>Caroline and the stranger, who introduced himself as Damon Salvatore, were sitting in the kitchen for an hour. He told her the story of the doppleganger girl who was the key to breaking the curse. How Nik- no, how Klaus terrorized the whole town. <em>No, that's not true.<em> How he turned her boyfriend into a hybrid. _He would never-!_ How he erased Stefan's memory once, then came after him and made him the Ripper again. Damon told her that Klaus had been obsessed with her since he'd saved her life. The life he himself had put in danger first.

''That's not true. You're lying.'' She sounded like a broken record.

"I'm sparing with words now, Barbie. The whole story is much more complicated, but we don't have ti-."

Then they heard two voices and the scrape of the key in the lock.

"-she must be somewhere near, I'm telling you." It was Kol. Obviously their search came to nothing.

"Caroline?" Nik called. There was no answer. Brooding silence enveloped the apartment.

Klaus sensed something alarming in the condo, but before he could take a step forward, Caroline's face appeared in the hall. She looked dour. She eyed him with distrust like a wounded animal do when a man approaches it.

"What happened, love?" Klaus reached to her, but she flinched and stepped back.

"Who's Caroline Forbes?" She stuttered through gritted teeth. Kol could swear that hell was burning in her blue, narrowed, unblinking eyes. Klaus' lip quivered. If he'd been human, he'd have a heart attack in that very moment. His eyes widened, his breathing quickened. That gave him away.

"Love-"

Pure fury filled Caroline's chest.

"Who the fuck is Caroline Forbes?" She lashed out at him.

"Listen to me, I don't know who's messed with your head but-" Klaus tried to placate her, but in vain. Then to his and Kol's surprise someone stepped into the hall. Kol's eye twitched.

"Long time no see, you scumbag." Damon seethed.

"Come on, Salvatore, what happened to our bromance?" Kol grinned foolishly.

"You tell me. And your crazy brother can explain how the hell Blondie has become his mindless Transylvanian concubine."

Klaus and Caroline simultaneously winced at his words. He couldn't endure her looking at him like that. With hurt. With disappointment. With no hope.

"What did you do to her, you bastard?" Damon growled and stepped forward.

"_Somebody_ took her memory away. As much as you'd love to blame me... I. Did. Nothing." Klaus didn't back out. They were standing and facing each other in a villain stare off. Eventually Damon's face twisted with anger.

"It wasn't a magic trick. She's been compelled for fuck's sake! Are you blind?" Damon raged. Caroline was just standing by the wall paralyzed, like she wasn't even there. Kol's gaze was focused on the girl. Klaus didn't move, his face unreadable.

"Wait a minute. You knew." Damon whispered, staring at Klaus. "You fuckin' knew! How long have you been keeping it from her?" Purple with rage, Damon jumped at the hybrid and they fell to the floor. They rolled on the ground, and Klaus landed on top of the attacker. He punched Damon hard in the face. _Stop, please stop!_ Caroline was mumbling to herself while watching everything as in slow motion. Klaus' eyes turned yellow, he bared his fangs.

Damon did the same. "You knew, you bastard!" He choked out. "It must have been one of you, fucking' Originals!"

"Shut up or I'll tear out your heart and feed it to the dogs!" Klaus growled.

"Go on, show your girlfriend your real face. You've been hiding it for so long." Damon's retort threw him off balance. Klaus looked back to Caroline but his eyes couldn't linger. Everything he'd built was now falling to pieces like a shattered mirror. He knew there was no way back. It was over. Kol looked at Caroline with apologetic eyes. For the first time in his long life he felt sorry for somebody. He knew that it was just the beginning. _What's gonna happen when she regains her memories? _He thought. _She'll break down. It'll destroy her._ Then Kol's gaze fell on yet another person, dressed in white, standing in the doorway. _No, not her, not now._ He facepalmed. Klaus shook his head, _no way, no fuckin' way._

"Here you are, you little _bitch._'' They heard a feminine voice. ''Is it possible to get rid of you at all? No matter what I do, you just keep bouncing back!" Rebekah spat. Damon sighed, somewhat relieved, but he was expecting her to come earlier. What took her so long? Had she stopped on her way to Chicago to touch up her make up or what?

"You had Tyler's love. You had Matt's attention.'' The girl counted on her fingers. ''You had the school committee, you had the cheerleader team. Then you took Nik from me, making a lovesick fool out of him! But no! It wasn't enough for you, was it?'' Her bitter tone cut Caroline's skin like a sharp chip of glass. ''So when Kol contracted the same Barbie-disease you just let him chase you and sleep with you!"

Caroline gagged. _I did WHAT?_ Klaus shot Kol a murderous glance. _You did WHAT?_ And Kol just pressed his back harder against the wall. _No, I didn't!_

"No, he didn't." Damon rolled his eyes, irritated. "He just conned you, Care. But please, Becks, continue. I'm curious what happens next." He grinned while still being choked by Klaus. This is called _style._

Everybody in the room plus Rebekah on the doorstep gave him a _WTF look_, but she continued.

"I lost Elijah because of that blood bag Elena. I lost Finn because of that redhead slut Sage. Now you killed two birds with one stone, didn't you Caroline, taking Kol and my beloved Nik from me. So why don't I kill you now?'' She tilted her head. ''Elena will suffer, my brothers will be free, I will dance at you grave. Everyone wins. Kind of." She wanted to step inside, but she couldn't.

"Nik, invite me in." She ordered.

"So you can kill her, sister? I do not think so." Klaus hissed and continued to strangle Damon.

"I can always un-compel her. She'll probably kill herself then, anyway." Rebekah snickered and Caroline's mouth hung open. So did Damon's.

"What do you think, brother?" Rebekah smiled wickedly.

"Don't you dare-" Klaus was about to launch at her when he heard Caroline saying,

"Do it." She came closer to the door. Klaus looked at her pleadingly. _Don't do this, love. _

"Give me back what is mine." Caroline looked at Rebekah with grim determination.

"Only if I get back what's mine." The Original sister replied, smirking.

"Deal." Caroline nodded gravely. _You can't stop this disaster from happening, this Titanic has already sailed,_ Kol thought with regret.

Rebekah's pupils dilated, and so did Caroline's. ''Now you remember.'' And all the events flashed before Caroline's eyes like lightening.

_The date sold to... Mr. Klaus Mikaelson! Congratulations! Where are you going to spend this incredibly romantic evening? I hope you like pancakes. This was worth much more than fifteen thousand. I'm sitting here and crying because I've lost my old life and it tears me apart. I have bad news for you: you're never going to have a normal life, so get over it. Get over yourself, Caroline. Let's get your fine ass back home. They. Are. Evil. He tore out so many hearts you can't even imagine! They are all the same. Wanna see the future? A dark type. He'll have you. Caroline Forbes, my favorite dipso, I hope to see you on Friday night at my party. It's not solitude. It's loneliness. Mutual attraction is wrong, Caroline? It's not worth losing my friends, losing Tyler, and my family. And it will never be. I have one more bottle stashed away in my room. To good fun. She cheated on Tyler. He's not coming back! I was drunk, Kol. I made a stupid mistake. I'm going to find Tyler no matter what. What are you doing here? Then everything went black._

Caroline's woke up from the daze and blinked. Then she sank to the floor.

Damon felt guilty. Maybe if he hadn't pushed Kol to do all the stupid stuff he did, she wouldn't have gone through this – do not fear to use this word - shit. He knew that Rebekah would help him separate her brothers from Caroline, because come on, the girl seemed to hate Caroline more than she hated Elena. But Damon got a hell of a surprise when Rebekah un-compelled Caroline. When he realized Caroline had been compelled, he thought it had been Kol. It would explain why Kol duped him into splitting up. Elijah had been out of question from the start, the guy was simply too busy trying to get into Elena's pants.

It was always a woman that caused trouble. From the very beginning of the world. Damon sighed.

"I've heard about toxic mothers. But a toxic sister? This is plain creepy. Sage would agree. If she was still alive." He grimaced.

"You're the last person to talk about toxic siblings." Rebekah muttered.

"You lied to me." They heard almost inaudible whisper.

All the eyes in the room fixed on Caroline's fragile figure sitting helplessly on the floor by the door. A pair of empty blue eyes was looking straight at Klaus. He got up, releasing Damon (_finally_!) from his grip.

The hybrid stood there defeated, lacking courage to face her. Something broke inside the girl. She wanted to yell at him, slap him, choke him, break his neck, bruise his chest by pounding at it with all the strength she had. She wanted to do all this and more, but she was exhausted. The anger still burned her from the inside, but her strength faltered. It was too much at the moment. Her mind felt numb.

She felt empty. She felt tired. So tired she didn't even shed a tear.

Klaus lowered his gaze and kept on looking at his feet. Caroline's eyes left him as she turned to Damon.

"Take me home." She said with a detached tone.

Caroline didn't even look back as she stepped out of the apartment, followed by Damon.

* * *

><p>The group of loyal friends was waiting for her at the porch.<p>

_That's terrible_, Elena cried.

_Poor Caroline_, Bonnie hugged her.

_That bastard_, Stefan appeared out of nowhere.

_Come here, Care_, Matt squeezed her.

_Psycho_, Alaric mumbled, then the irony of his own statement hit him. He shrugged, hoping that the others hadn't noticed.

_My_ _baby_, Liz sobbed.

Caroline just stood there, unable to move, to say anything. She looked like a ghost. Emotionless gaze. Impassive face. The blonde just nodded and went up to her room, leaving them behind. She slowly sat on her bed and looked around absently, her eyes still distant, expressionless, like those of a doll. Scary, vampire doll.

Her whole body itched. She felt... She felt...

Mutilated.

She was falling apart like a castle in the air she had built so carefully. She looked at Caroline Forbes in the mirror.

Indifference. Apathy. Numbness. Complete emotional withdrawal. This is what too much pain eventually does to you.

Then something caught her eye. Another face of Caroline Forbes was there, _smiling_ at her. The sketch Klaus had made for her after the ball was still there, stuck to her mirror on the wall.

_Tell me if I'm wrong, tell me if I'm right _

_Tell me if you need a loving hand to help you fall asleep tonight _

_Tell me if I know, tell me if I do _

_Tell me how to fall in love the way you want me to _

_'Cause I love the way you wake me up _

_For goodness sake will my love not be enough? _


	15. Safe and sound

**A/N: **First and foremost, thank you **Klaroliner **for the song! I've been looking for something exactly like that! I feel unfulfilled when I can't find the right song. So, **high five **love! :)

Btw guys, any suggestions concerning the soundtrack? Feel free to comment on tumblr. It's amazing that even some of you my lovely **lurkers** actually talk to me on tumblr. I'm thrilled!

See? I'm a nice person. Don't be shy. *sharpens a knife*

* * *

><p><em>Song<em>: _Taylor Swift & The Civil Wars - Safe and Sound_

**Poem**: **Charles Bukowski**, from _What Matters Most is How Well You Walk Through the Fire_

All credits etc. go to the authors and so on and so forth.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14<strong>

**Safe and Sound**

_I remember tears streaming down your face,_

_When I said I'll never let you go._

_When all those shadows almost killed your light,_

_I remember you said don't leave me here alone,_

_But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight._

_Just close your eyes,_

_The sun is going down._

_You'll be all right,_

_No one can hurt you now._

Every day felt like a walk of shame. The burden Caroline was carrying was getting more and more crippling. _You're safe now, Caroline_, they said. But she still was looking back over her shoulder to make sure they were right.

Caroline Forbes resigned from the school committee and the cheerleader team. Rebekah Mikaelson took her place, glad to be able to bask in her own glow and admiration coming from her school fangirls.

Caroline Forbes couldn't care less.

Every day felt like a copy of the previous one. Wake up in the morning, exist, and manage to fall asleep at night. Sometimes she woke up on Sunday and wanted to go to school because she had lost track of the time. Everyday she kept staring at the sketch hanging over her dresser.

Caroline didn't want to talk about what happened to her. Damon took upon himself to spread the news to all who needed to know. He also filed, on Caroline's behalf, for a restraining order against Klaus and Kol. It simply meant telling Elijah to keep his brothers at bay. The Original understood it perfectly well and assured Damon that no more harm will be done to Caroline. The older Salvatore didn't have the guts to face Caroline after taking her home, but decided that Stefan could do the job. As a Klaus' victim, Stefan knew better how to deal with losing memories and then getting them back. He could relate to Caroline, maybe she needed that.

_Knock, knock._

"Caroline's not in the room." She muttered and kept on staring at her TV set. Then the door creaked and Stefan's head popped up.

"Do you have a minute?" He smiled. It was getting dark outside and the setting sun cast a creepy shadow on his face... _Klaus_? Caroline blinked. No, it was just Stefan.

Stefan had been there for her when she'd been turned into a vampire against her will. He made everything easier. Not easy, but a little bit easier. Caroline sighed.

"Come in."

He sat down on the bed next to her and looked at the TV.

''_Buffy?_ Seriously?"

"I think she and I... We both have been through a lot, you know." Caroline lowered her gaze and fiddled with her fingers.

"How are you-"

"I don't." Caroline chimed in. "I don't know how to cope with this. I'll just live through another day." She smiled bravely. Bitterly.

"When I realized that Klaus and I were friends once, and that we've done so many revolting things, I wanted to bang my head against a wall." Stefan confessed. Caroline's fists clenched. The problem was, she hadn't done any revolting things with Klaus. Quite the opposite, actually. She'd trusted him. She'd let him win her over. She'd let him open his heart to her. She'd let herself know him. And now she couldn't forget it.

"It's like Spuffy all over again." She sighed. "Only that in my case it was... Klaroline." Caroline made a face.

"Spuffy?" Stefan raised an eyebrow.

"Buffy and Spike? Duh."

"Ok. Right. But I think she really loved him, somewhere deep down her heart, so your argument is invalid." _Is it?_

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She cracked a faint smile.

"Buffy would tell you to keep your head high and fight for your humanity." Stefan pointed out and Caroline felt like a teenage girl listening to another pep talk. She didn't want to cooperate yet.

"Don't let him break you, Caroline. There's still hope for you." He patted her on the shoulder and got up.

''I've become the Ripper out of choice. I gave up, it was my fault. But you, Caroline, you were left without a choice, unaware of what you were doing. Don't be too hard on yourself.''

Later that night, Caroline was laying in her bed and staring at the ceiling, thinking about what Stefan would have said to Buffy if she'd told him she'd... _really_ _grown attached_... to Spike.

* * *

><p><strong>and when love came to us twice <strong>

**and lied to us twice **

**we decided to never love again **

**that was fair **

**fair to us **

**and fair to love itself. **

* * *

><p>Meanwhile in Chicago, Kol and Klaus were throwing their own slumber party every night. They always invited Jack Daniels, Johnny Walker, Lady Vodka and Mr Rum.<p>

Getting drunk to forget, sobering up to remember, and then getting drunk again - that was their agenda.

* * *

><p><strong>we ask for no mercy or no <strong>

**miracles; **

**we are strong enough to live **

**and to die and to **

**kill flies,**

* * *

><p>The only rule in their Guilt Club was: <em>do not talk about Caroline Forbes.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>attend the boxing matches, go to the racetrack, <strong>

**live on luck and skill, **

**get alone, get alone often, **

**and if you can't sleep alone **

**be careful of the words you speak in your sleep; **

**and **

**ask for no mercy **

**no miracles; **

* * *

><p>The guilt-stricken Mikaelsons took up boxing classes. They drank at night and bashed each other during the day.<p>

Their faces got smashed many times. _Hit me Britney one more time_, Kol used to sing, laying on the ground with a black eye and a bleeding nose.

Their noses got broken even more often. Their lips got cut over and over again.

The wounds they were inflicting upon each other only made them want more.

Bones snapping and crunching. Mouth swollen. Skin being bruised. Klaus could look at himself in the mirror only when his face was all covered in bruises.

All that wasn't enough to find forgiveness, but it dulled the existential pain a bit.

Enough to make it to the condo and get drunk.

_Do not talk about Caroline Forbes._

* * *

><p><strong>and don't forget: <strong>

**time is meant to be wasted, **

**love fails **

**and death is useless.**

* * *

><p><em>Do not talk about Caroline Forbes, damn it!<em>

* * *

><p>Spring was coming to Mystic Falls. And if the town loved something more than corpses in the woods, it was the annual spring dance at the Lockwood Mansion. The week before, girls were looking for dresses to wear to the party and boys were looking for girls to undress there.<p>

"I'm not going." Caroline shook her head at Bonnie and Elena, and closed her locker. They trudged down the school corridor.

"Caroline, you can't hide for the rest of your life." Highly instructive Bonnie shot Caroline a pleading look.

"I'm not hiding. I'm just going to a rival party." Caroline pouted.

"Let me guess. Another Buffy Night Fever?" Elena winced.

"No. Actually, I was going to watch _Casablanca_." The other girls just rolled their eyes. Unfortunately, Caroline remained steadfast in her resolution. She didn't want to go, get drunk, and then cry in Tyler's room. In fact, the latter wasn't so probable anymore. But going to the party meant running into Rebekah and Elijah, two scars that marred her life. Scars that remained as if to make her remember Chicago forever.

She had nightmares almost every night. That is, if she managed to fall asleep at all. She dreamed about _Nik_. They were making love under the delicate white sheets and she could feel his touch lingering on her skin. The nightmare had always the same ending. As they were getting closer to the release, she looked up and saw scary yellow pupils watching her hungrily. _Klaus_. She was screaming and tossing under him but then he bit her neck, and she felt excruciating pain run through her body, and then she woke up.

She didn't feel safe nor did she feel sound.

Every night she was going through the same thing. All over again.

Every night she was losing her mind just to fight for it during the day. Never-ending, pointless struggle. Talk about 21st century vampire Sisyphus.

* * *

><p>Psychology applies to humans, obviously, but what about vampires, if they are so different, with their heightened emotions and sharper senses? Caroline never felt neurotic enough to go to a shrink (maybe it was her mistake), but now she needed to freud herself out of the pit she'd fallen into.<p>

So she started reading articles and books about psychotherapy. She found out about Stockholm Syndrome. _Nik_ - I mean Klaus - never abused her physically, he'd never battered her, but he might have been controlling, and over-possessive. She knew his personality wasn't exactly a warm one. The words '_charismatic_' and '_dominant_' would be the best pick. And '_split_', probably.

She read about hostages defending their captors. She read about women loving wrongdoers and criminals. She read about strong emotional bond developing between the weak one and the strong one in certain conditions. Isolation, inability to escape the situation, adapting the captor's perspective. The same syndrome was present in romantic relationships as well. Usually the controller was just an angry man that had had a rough childhood and a dysfunctional family.

_The Mikaelsons, a dysfunctional family? Nah, what a nonsense. _

The more Caroline read, the more frightened she became. So far she'd considered herself a victim. Now she was doubting her _sanity_.

She closed the book and hid it under the mattress. Self-analysis had been a bad idea.

Buffy knew better than a bunch of shrinks altogether.

* * *

><p>Friday evening was supposed to be her Supernatural evening. Caroline loved Castiel for his sweet naivety and lack of insight into the modern world, but most probably because he'd also lost his memory. <em>Then he went mad, but hey, angels don't exist<em>, she used to say. She wanted to hug Cas and keep him as her teddy-bear. Before the new episode started, she went down the stairs to grab some popcorn from the kitchen.

On her way back Caroline heard a loud crack. It came from her room.

She stopped dead and hugged tighter the bowl with food. What if somebody was in her room? She hadn't prepared herself for this like Kevin in Home Alone had. There was no anti-vampire trap. No vampire detectors that could splatter vervain in case of emergency.

Caroline took her courage in both hands, gritted her teeth, and rushed upstairs. Whatever came for her, it wasn't getting even a strand of her hair. She had a bowl of popcorn and wouldn't hesitate to use it.

She kicked the door open. The room was silent and empty. Nothing seemed to have changed.

Then she saw it.

A red envelope was laying on her pillow. She reluctantly took it in her hands, then opened it, her heart filled with dread.

_Meet me tomorrow at the dance._

She had to sit down and take a deep breath.

Her hands couldn't stop trembling.

* * *

><p><em>Don't you dare look out your window,<em>

_Darlin' everything's on fire._

_The war outside our door keeps raging on,_

_Hold on to this lullaby._

_Even when the music's gone, gone_

* * *

><p>On Saturday morning Elena's phone vibrated. Caroline?<p>

"Tell me you're waking me up at 7 am to announce that you're coming to the dance." Elena grumbled, not really expecting that the blonde would change her mind.

"Yes."

"What?" Elena immediately sat upright in her bed.

"I'm coming to the dance." There was something odd about Caroline's voice.

"Everything's ok, Care?"

"_Casablanca_ can wait."

* * *

><p>The Lockwood Mansion brought back only bad memories. Carol Lockwood and her still mistrustful stare made Caroline want to turn back and head home.<p>

But no, not tonight. She was going to exorcise the ghosts of her past once and for all. No more haunted mind. She was contaminated by her past, she needed to face it, critically review it, and turn over a new leaf. With such determination strengthened by a glass of wine, she entered the house and looked around.

The male guests were sending her dirty looks. She did doll herself up a bit. She let her blonde curls hang in a loose bun. A little black dress with lace edging and black pumps boosted her confidence. With a black clutch in one hand and a glass of red wine in the other Caroline waited for the impending disaster.

_Bring it on_, she muttered taking a sip.

Then she almost spilled her drink when a hand fell on her shoulder.

"Damon!" She huffed. "You've scared me."

"Why so jumpy?" He flinched. Caroline eyed him from head to toe. _Were the Salvatores just born wearing suits, looking sophisticated and intriguing?_

"Why so alone?" She pouted teasingly.

"Not in the mood for spying on Elena and Stefan right now." He downed a glass of champagne. Whole glass. In one gulp.

"But she's not with Stefan, I can see him standing at the staircase, talking to Carol Lockwood." Caroline scanned the faces of the people. Not even a shadow of the petite brunette in sight.

"If she's not with my brother, who is she with?" Damon frowned.

* * *

><p>Caroline went upstairs, looking for her friend. Elena was wearing lovely pale beige cocktail dress, she wouldn't be too hard to find in the crowd. The blonde headed towards a small balcony in the hope of discerning Elena from above.<p>

She squinted her eyes but the girl seemed to have mysteriously disappeared without any trace. Caroline observed the dancing crowd and a wave of nostalgia struck her. _I used to be a dance floor queen_, she thought. _I used to do a lot of things, but not a single one of them matters anymore. _

Then someone moved behind her back. A man.

She felt a hot breath on the nape of her neck, and gasped.

"You look stunning." The man whispered.

She froze.

* * *

><p><strong>OMG! Cliffhanger! Tralalalalala! :)<strong>

Feel compelled to review.

I like your reviews.

_Mucho_.

x.

x.

x.

My short free-time period is almost over. But let me spoil you guys: a short story featuring Kol and Damon teaming up again (um. Team Mikaechestore?) shall be written and shall be posted.


	16. Dark paradise

Song: Yes, it's Lana Del Rey - ''Dark Paradise''. Bear with me.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15<strong>

**Dark paradise**

_And there's no remedy for memory_

_Your face is like a melody_

_It won't leave my head_

_Your soul is haunting me and telling me_

_That everything is fine_

_But I wish I was dead_

* * *

><p>"You've been avoiding me, Elena. Successfully, I must admit." Elijah recited graciously, towering over Elena with his supercilious demeanor dressed in a designer suit. To keep their hands occupied in this awkward situation they were holding glasses of champagne.<p>

Elena took a breath before she said,

"After all what happened to Caroline I thought it would be the best to..." She hesitated. To do what? Hide from him like a teenager she was?

"To sever ties with me?" The Original wasn't too diplomatic about it, either. Elena's gaze deliberately lowered.

"Yes." She whispered.

Elijah turned away from her and stepped closer to the window. It was dark outside but the colorful lights cheered the crowd up. People were having so much fun dancing and chatting.

_In the moments of fun we all think we're immortal. _

"What my brother did was reckless and selfish, there's no doubt the girl will never forgive him." Elijah stated.

"However, he's my brother, and even though I condemn his wicked deeds, I understand him this time." He looked at Elena exactly when her eyes narrowed and she shot him a confused glance.

"What do you mean?"

"You see, Niklaus has been always the rejected one. Powerful yet despised. He is impulsive and arrogant, that's true, but the thing my brother wants the most in this world is not power but _acceptance_."

Elena was standing there, focused on Elijah's words, wondering what he was aiming at.

"He meets a young girl, brave and beautiful, who doesn't see her real worth and doesn't know how much the world has to offer. She's decent, kind-hearted, she cherishes her values and holds onto her humanity. She is everything that he is not. How can he be not fascinated with her? This time his feelings are genuine, believe me, I know my brother."

"It doesn't entitle him to do such... atrocity." Elena protested.

"I agree. It was a mistake. My brother has been always the wild one." Elijah frowned.

"But sometimes I envy him." He looked at the girl with regret. How gorgeous she was, standing in that dress, with those loose curls falling on her back, with those long lashes and full lips.

"Do you?"

"Yes. I would love to make the same mistake as he did," Elijah smiled bitterly at her, imagining all the things he could show her.

''Yet I can not for I am said to be the honorable one." His jaw tightened.

* * *

><p>"Tyler." She whispered as he turned her around and pulled into a tight, wistful embrace.<p>

"Caroline." He muttered and nuzzled his face against her neck. His heart was beating frantically. _Thump thump thump-_

"I missed you so much." He kissed her gently on the lips. "So much."

He smelled wonderfully. The masculine, virile aroma all over him. His broad shoulders were keeping her in one place, stuck against his toned chest. She remembered what effect his scent and that elegant suit had had on her in the past.

But now she felt nothing.

Like she was an empty bottle.

The genie had fled long time ago.

Caroline awkwardly put her arms around his neck. There was no words to describe the shock she just experienced. Seeing a ghost would be the closest shot. Her startled gaze was wandering around the walls.

Maybe it was just a dream? It seemed so... _surreal_.

"When did you-"

"Last night. I stopped by at your house. But we'll talk about it later, Care. I've got a surprise for you." He beamed at her not noticing her baffled expression, taking her hand and leading her down the corridor. Caroline let him drag her along mostly because she was too taken aback and too dazed to choke out a word, not to mention _protest_.

But she was afraid. Very afraid.

* * *

><p>Rebekah's hungry eyes were following every step Damon was taking. She chose white as a neutral color for this occasion, the only intense thing about Rebekah was the provocative red lipstick on her lips. She stole another glass of wine from a nearby table and headed towards the one and only Mr. Damon Salvatore.<p>

"Cheers." She smirked and raised the glass, half-expecting him to look at her and fall to his knees, love-struck. But he didn't even look at the blonde.

"Wanna get me drunk and then take advantage of my innocent self?" He snarled.

She didn't catch on to the subtle irony Damon was spoon-feeding her at that moment.

"I forgot, your stare is enough to make me lose myself." Damon's eyes were roaming through the room.

Rebekah gritted her teeth.

"Punishing me for compelling your Barbie, aren't you?" She growled. "You can join the club my brothers established."

"I wouldn't even dream of it." Damon smiled thinly.

"Your brothers will forgive you sooner or later. That's what brothers are for. But I won't." He threw her a challenging glance.

"Are you threatening me, Mr. Salvatore?" She kept her chin up.

"No, Miss Mikaelson. I'm turning you down." He raised his glass _-cheers-_ in a victorious gesture, with a vicious smile on his face, and wandered off.

Rebekah stood there speechless.

After a minute of total astonishment she put the glass down and rushed to the bathroom, smearing the red lipstick all over her chin with right hand.

* * *

><p>"You can open your eyes now." Tyler said resting his hands on her waist and pulling her back closer to his torso. That sent shivers down her spine. Her whole body tensed.<p>

She blinked once and then her jaw dropped.

They were standing in a dimly lit room, decorated with candles, _a lot of candles_, and flowers. Rose petals were scattered all over the floor and over a king-size bed with black silk covers on. In the middle of the room there was a small table with two glasses and a bottle of champagne in a cooler. It was... romantic, amazing, and incredible, for sure, but it filled Caroline with such anxiety she couldn't move and that she could hardly breathe.

She should be skipping the champagne part and be straddling him on the bed right now, but all she could think of in that moment was _please, don't_.

Her mouth went dry.

Caroline run her tongue over her lips, but before she could say anything Tyler claimed them in a long, affectionate kiss. Caroline closed her eyes... only to see Nik's face instead of Tyler's. _Oh my God._

She cupped his face in her hands and withdrew from the kiss as gently as she could considering her nagging anxiety.

Tyler's gaze was expressing his utter confusion. He was searching for the answer somewhere deep down in Caroline's blue, sad eyes, but there was nothing to be found.

Tyler gulped. He'd been through so much pain already, he was afraid there was more waiting for him there in Mystic Falls. He'd tried so much for her and now she was slipping away from him, and he didn't know why. Her every glance, so _detached_, so _strange_, stung him like a needle.

"What's wrong, Caroline?" He asked, getting more and more nervous. The tension between them was building up as in silent anticipation for the knives to be out.

Insecurity was eating him up.

Caroline's lip quivered. Then she realized that he didn't know. He couldn't know, he just returned.

"Tyler, you don't know about me, do you?" She bit her lower lip.

"Know what?"

Caroline couldn't tell him. She didn't know how...

How to confess that she'd been sleeping with his sire, his enemy, the reason of all the torture Tyler had put himself through.

How could she tell him about all the things she'd been doing with Klaus. To Klaus.

She just looked at him, shaking her head, her eyes grief-stricken and remorseful. _I'm so sorry._

"I just can't-"

Then she was gone.

She was running until her feet started to burn.

Run Caroline. And don't look back.

* * *

><p>Tyler was sitting down on the bed that was supposed to be their temporary love nest. He'd planned a romantic toast, then confessions, then a hot, romantic night spent together. He yearned for her.<p>

Then everything turned out wrong as she didn't welcome him like he'd wanted her to, like he _expected_ her to.

Young Lockwood rushed down the corridor and down the stairs. Somebody had to tell him what the hell was going on.

Stefan saw him and nodded, _welcome back_.

Bonnie saw him and smiled, _what a relief_.

Alaric saw him and raised his glass, _here comes the prodigal son_.

Damon saw him and frowned, _we need to talk_.

* * *

><p>She stopped gasping for air on the Wickery Bridge. She leaned over panting heavily, and propped herself up against the wood. Last time she'd been there when she'd drunk herself senseless and Kol had felt obligated to give her a piggy-back ride home.<p>

_Kol,_ she squeezed her eyes. _Nik_.

Her life in Chicago had been an illusion, a beautiful performance Broadway actors would be proud of.

A thoroughly revised script, a well-plotted scheme.

But no matter how much she wanted those memories gone, they stayed hidden in her head, lurking in the darkness, haunting her. She would never admit to her friends that she'd _liked_ that life. That's why her memories were killing her.

It had been all about her down there in the Windy City. For the first time she hadn't been a mere pawn in the game of chess.

_How selfish of me_, she thought bitterly.

She would cry herself a river, but since she'd left Klaus her emotions got simply turned off.

Time was passing, people were crying, laughing, getting excited or depressed, being _alive_. She felt nothing when she woke up, she felt nothing when she was falling asleep. Only the nightmares she was having every night, that freaky shadow theater, reminded her that she actually was a person, not a robot.

Caroline went down and settled on the green thick grass close to the river bank. She laid herself down and let her body sprawl on the ground. A star above her twinkled, giving Caroline a wink. Other stars clustered in the pitch-black sky above her head started to dance.

She sighed and closed her eyes.

Silence, peace and quiet.

No problems, no worries, no drama.

_I'm so tired._

She was already drifting off when she felt a hand running up her bare leg. She knew this touch well. She remembered these big, manly palms that had been caressing her body so many times. That delightful touch. The hands were gently stroking her like you stroke a cat.

The fingers she knew pulled the dress up higher. Then a wet tongue brushed lightly against the skin on her inner thigh.

A hot breath skimmed over her now wet panties.

It set her body on fire.

With her eyes still closed, she moaned quietly, already throbbing for him.

Caroline couldn't wait more. She opened her eyes and reached for his face in a desperate need to kiss him and to have him.

But her hands hung in the air.

Her dress was in its place.

She was all alone.

_There's no relief, I see you in my sleep_

_And everybody's rushing me, but I can feel you touching me_

_There's no release, I feel you in my dreams_

_Telling me I'm fine_

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: This chapter is a bit shorter but it's either this or updating once in the blue moon. It was a difficult thing for me to write (it screams _awkward),_ because I used to like Forwood and this sweet idea of them helping each other against all odds. But then, um... you know, Klaus kinda happened? I still appreciate Tyler as a character, and I'm excited about this love triangle more than about Elenatore triangle.

**A/N 2:** Anyway, **thanks for sticking with me, dear Readers. :)** it's good to see old faces as well as new ones.

(my whiny comment starts here) I'm again stuck in a rut. At least you **make** **me** **smile**. (my whiny comment ends here) Btw, where's my cookie? ;)

x.

Feel compelled to review. *creepy stare*


	17. Try

**A/N: **I wrote it during a fit of homesickness and depression. Have at it.

**Songs: **

Nelly Furtado - 'Try'

Lindberg Palace - 'Scary'

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16<strong>

**Try**

_The more I learn, the more I learn _

_The more I cry the more I cry _

_As I say goodbye to the way of life _

_I thought I had designed for me _

_(...)_

_Then I see you standing there _

_Wanting more from me _

_And all I can do is try _

Sunday mornings are supposed to be lazy like cats and as carefree as butterflies. You're not supposed to wake up with a hangover and a guilty conscience.

Yet, here she was. Caroline Forbes, for some time even Caroline Ford. She didn't know which one she liked better. Or hated more.

While her light was gone for good, Tyler was back from the dead or from wherever he'd been hiding. The Prince Charming had returned. She should have forgotten everything that had happened to her and go with the flow. Be with him, make it normal, move on. Pretend that she cared, it couldn't be so difficult as it seemed.

Fake it till you make it.

And then fake it some more.

Everything in her life had been an illusion so far. _Let's just stick to this game-_

_No_! She shook her head. She couldn't do this to Tyler. He didn't deserve any fake feelings.

Then she heard the doorbell ring.

Speak of the devil.

No matter how much she feared this conversation, they had to have it. Not bothering to change her clothes, she trudged down the stairs, her pink pajama pants hanging low on her hips. _Whatever_.

The door creaked and she saw Tyler standing on her porch, with his hands in the back pockets of his jeans, trying to look so cool when actually he was a far cry from being calm. She examined his boyish, regular face, the beautiful features of his high cheekbones, and those big dark eyes that were already begging her not to leave him. Those hopeful, pleading, innocent eyes.

"Um. Hi." She stammered.

"Caroline," he said, his voice trembling, "I know everything."

She gasped. _Everything_? Like, _everything_-_everything_?

Tyler... He looked so... scared. Like when he had become a werewolf and she had been the only person he could turn for help.

"I know about what Klaus did to you." He uttered. She closed her eyes to keep herself from flinching. Then she felt him taking her gently by the hand.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"No, it's okay. You didn't know." She exhaled, withdrawing her hand and hugging her arms, suddenly feeling naked in her pjs.

As he took a step closer, she bit her lower lip.

"We'll make it through, Care." Tyler's hands reached for her again. She let them rest on her shoulders, although it felt so uncomfortable, so odd. He looked her in the eyes, staring intensely at her, waiting.

And waiting.

Still waiting.

"Yeah, I hope so." She sighed and saw how bright his eyes got after hearing this. He pulled her in a tight hug, burying his head into her blonde tangled hair.

Sunday mornings are supposed to bring peace.

Fake it till you make it.

* * *

><p>Caroline was feeling like a pathological liar when she let Tyler take her out on a date. Not really the romantic stuff he'd pulled off the last time they had spoken. No. Just a walk. A harmless, friendly walk in the woods.<p>

A lot of trees to admire. A lot of rocks to stumble upon. A lot of Tyler's questions to avoid and parry. Awkward, personal questions.

All the time he was holding her hand. She got tense when he got too close. Tyler's eyes told her he was hurt by how distanced from him she became. But he kept on smiling reassuringly, not giving up hope he cherished.

To Caroline's relief he was the talking one. He told her about a cave he lived in Illinois, trying to break the sire bond to Klaus. There was another werewolf and a witch that were helping him go through that unspeakable pain.

"How did it feel?" Caroline asked as they sat down on an old trunk lying on the moss grown ground.

"Raw. A raw pain. Very... primal." He hung his head low.

"Are you free now?" She whispered. He'd been through so much, he had risked everything he had, and here they were now, sitting, having this awkward talk, feeling like soldiers after the war is over.

The war was over. Now what? After all that had been said and done, how they could pick what was left and carry on?

"I don't know." He sighed. "I didn't have the occasion to test it."

"Maybe you won't have to. He... won't be back, I guess." She clenched her fist while her mouth compressed into a thin line. Tyler fondly put his arm around her shoulder. He couldn't even imagine how broken the girl was.

"You never know, considering his twisted perverted mind..." Tyler said, snorting in the air with anger. A mere memory of his former master made his blood boil.

Caroline gulped. Tyler was so determined to protect her. So loyal. And she couldn't even be loyal to herself.

Then he cupped her face in his hands and brought it closer so their noses touched.

"Leave with me, Caroline. Let's elope." He said, his face dead-serious.

The blonde shuddered at the thought of them escaping together.

"What-"

"Please. Let's leave this goddamn town. Let's leave behind all the problems that aren't ours. We could start over. Be happy." He didn't let her go, instead he fixed his eyes on hers.

She just shook her head out of his grip.

"I can't. How could I leave my mother, Elena, Bonnie? They are stuck in this mess with us, too." She argued, but deep down Caroline knew it wasn't about their friends at all.

"We still have school." She added as if looking for more excuses.

"We're immortal, Caroline! We don't need school!" Tyler stood his ground.

"But we need normalcy!" She burst out angrily but immediately calmed herself down.

"I need it, at least."

"Don't say no, Caroline, just wait till we graduate. Then I will ask you again." Tyler pleaded, stroking her head.

"Okay." She finally agreed, not sure if they would make it alive till the graduation.

* * *

><p>He was kind. He was cute and caring. He was so perfect she could barely look at him without having her mind screaming at her <em>liar liar pants on fire! <em>

He brought her a bunch of roses. He kissed her gently on the cheek. On the forehead.

On the lips.

She took a step back. He took two steps forward and his lips crashed on hers again. He'd spent enough time alone, fighting on his own with the curse, he wanted her so badly.

She wrapped her hands around his neck and tried to feel.

She squeezed her eyes shut, _feel something, Caroline, try to feel. Anything. _

Oh how her white dress was turning him on. The cleavage showing the thin line between her breasts. The way the fabric was wrapping around her rear when he pulled the dress up higher.

Suddenly she pushed him away and hid her face in her delicate white hands.

"Caroline-" He panted.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"What did he do to you that you are continually pushing me away?" His voice cracked with emotion as he clutched his head.

She just sat on the bed in silence and kept on staring stubbornly at the wall.

* * *

><p>Tyler was getting more and more frustrated every time he tried to get physical with Caroline. She just wouldn't let him touch her. She denied him intimacy exactly when he needed it the most, after all he'd suffered.<p>

Gradually she was closing herself up. Tyler knew she was still in a state of limbo, still trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and patch things up.

Klaus had been an earthquake that swallowed the part of their world and Tyler started to suspect that there was no way back.

Nobody said that the post-war period would be easy.

Caroline remained shell-shocked.

_He says that he left you. _

_But we both know what's really true._

_It takes a toll on you. _

_Scary._

Days were passing by.

* * *

><p>"We need to talk, Caroline."<p>

"I'm tired."

"And I'm tired of the triangle we're in."

"What are you talking about?"

"He's still here, standing between us, keeping us apart."

"He's gone."

"Stop lying to yourself, Care."

"It's late. Goodnight Tyler."

* * *

><p><em>Caught in between<em>

_Lipstick and an old routine._

_Take off all the clothes_

_That you're wearing. _

Caroline tried. She really tried.

When he came after a few days of silent treatment she gathered her courage and made a move.

He was sitting on her bed, observing the girl with his insecure stare. He knew she was trying to break the ice. The thin ice she was treading on.

She straddled him and started to pepper his neck with ardent kisses.

_Feel something!_

Tyler couldn't wait till the end of the foreplay, the lust was consuming him, setting his mind and body alight. He flipped Caroline on her back and crawled on top of her. He had been dreaming about it every night out there in the cave. He needed her. Now.

Caroline's checked skirt rolled up and Tyler's hands began to roam over her thighs. He was breathing heavily as he yanked her red tank-top up and started to caress her smooth stomach with his tongue. Her soft, silky skin was driving him crazy.

Caroline sighed quietly while he was kissing her hungrily just below her belly button.

She was laying there with closed eyes, giving up to the pleasure he was bringing with his full sensuous lips.

_Make myself wild_

_Make myself high_

"Nik-" She moaned, then gasped.

But it was too late, Tyler already jumped to his feet and was staring at her with horror written all over his face.

"What. Did. You. Say?" He seethed.

"Nothing." Caroline shook her head, but the guilty look betrayed her.

"Please tell me that you weren't sleeping with him willingly. Please, tell me you didn't enj-"

"Tyler-"

"Tell me you didn't fuck him voluntarily!" Tyler yelled. He was fuming with rage. His breathing was still quick but not because of his arousal. Now he was about to destroy everything in her house, starting with Caroline herself. He was _fury_ epitomized. His fist clenched and so did his jaw.

"I did!" She lashed out and pushed him hard towards the door.

"I did enjoy it! Are you happy now?" Caroline lost her temper.

"How could you-"

"And how could you leave me in the lurch? How could you leave me here at his mercy?" Caroline spat. Everything just collapsed, the appearances she was keeping up so effectively, with so much effort. The lies she'd been living.

"I did it for us!" Tyler shouted.

"There was no us as soon as you left the town! Don't you get it?"

Silence fell between them. The whole house was as silent as the grave.

Tyler stood there, absolutely dumbfounded. _Sick_. He felt stuck in a kind of old-school, black and white silent movie, a very twisted one where a cheerful harmless guy turns out to be a psycho killer and you sit completely speechless long after the movie is over. That kind of _sick._

"Damon was right." He stated. "You've been brainwashed."

"How-"

"Klaus will pay for that. Fucking bastard."

With those words Tyler dashed down the stairs and run away into the woods.

Caroline sat down on the floor and let out a loud, painful, desperate cry like a helpless, wounded animal she was at that moment.

_Now it's over_

_And you're one day older_

_Understanding that your heart is colder_

_Go to hell._

_Go to hell._

_Go._

* * *

><p>The town of Mystic Falls woke up in the middle of the night alarmed by a glow of fire hanging over the woods.<p>

Caroline saw it from her bedroom window. What the hell was happening?

She was just about to call her mother when her phone rang. It was Liz.

"Mom, what's going on?"

"A fire broke out, it's insane how fast it's spreading. The whole town is here trying to put out the fire."

"Where?"

"At the Mikaelson mansion."

Caroline's phone fell to the floor.

* * *

><p><strong>AN 2**: Feel depressed enough to review.

'Cause I need somebody to cheer me up.


	18. Slept so long

**A/N: **My #1 fan – my Gran – passed away some time ago and it's her birthday soon so forgive me if this chapter is fucked up or lacks cohesion. Apparently I lack cohesion.

**It's just for your entertainment, I've never meant it to be a work of art. **

Song: Jay Gordon – _Slept so long _(Queen of the Damned OST)

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 17<strong>

**Slept so long**

_Walking, waiting_

_Alone without a care_

_Hoping, hating_

_Things that I can't bear_

_Did you think it's cool to walk right up_

_And take my life and fuck it up_

_Well did you?_

_Well did you?_

"You must be fucking kidding me." Kol grimaced as he stood there, in front of their house, looking at the ruins.

"The right wing has been totally destroyed." Elijah stated. His suit was crumpled, his perfect haircut no longer flawless. _Something's wrong_, Kol Watson deduced. _Where's Sherlockalus Holmes, then?_

The left wing had survived the fire, but it was the right one where all the bedrooms were located. In the left wing Klaus was keeping his art collection.

He run his fingers over a sketch he'd done long time ago. Horses. Caroline.

It felt incredibly — _awkward? distressing? hard?_ — incredibly _painful_ to be back in Mystic Falls. Looking at all those places and all those things... It was pure agony. It was no different than Chicago. Everywhere he went the blonde ghost with a contemptuous stare was haunting him, her eyes full of self-loathing were always fixed on his face.

_Disgust_.

His only hope was that she hated him. He would never forgive himself if the girl broke down blaming herself for what had happened between them. It had been all his fault, no matter how good, how pure his intentions had been.

"How the hell did it happen?" The youngest Original spat, always on a short fuse.

"Arson." Elijah didn't bother to give him more details. Well, what did you expect? The Mikaelson family wasn't exactly the pride and joy of this godforsaken town. Everyone knew they posed a threat to the members of the local community, be it supernatural or human.

When Klaus had been informed about the fire, he'd gotten into a frenzy. Then he'd asked about Rebekah. _Safe and sound? Good. Elijah? Only his hair had suffered a slight damage. My art collection? The left wing should be secured and taken care of._ That had meant of course going back to Mystic Falls.

And here they were, back to black as Amy would have surely said. Or, maybe Kol needed some rehab, too. He'd grown too attached to Jack Daniels lately.

Klaus hoped it wouldn't take long to sort things out and then to leave the town. Who was he kidding? He was terrified to stay there, but on the other hand he would give up everything to see her again.

His insides were burning with excitement, bringing him closer and closer to the edge.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry." Elena said, sitting on the porch with Elijah by her side.<p>

"I know." He looked haggard.

"So, what are you going to do?" She propped her chin with one hand and turned her head to face Elijah.

"Rebekah and Kol will probably share a flat, and I will probably just stay at a hotel, I don't feel like sharing such small space with them right now." His absent stare was wandering over the horizon.

The girl thought for a moment. It was Elijah, her... friend, at least. She owed him a lot more than he thought or than he would admit. Moreover, since Rick had moved out and Jeremy went to Denver, she couldn't stand the silence that reigned her house.

Elena took him by the hand.

"Stay here."

"What?" He turned to her abruptly. "No, Elena, I wouldn't even— "

"Please." She looked him in the eyes and smiled pleadingly. "I hate being alone all the time, and you have nowhere to go."

* * *

><p>"I have nowhere to go." Rebekah pouted. She had no true friends left. In fact, she had never had any, so Klaus decided to rent her an apartment in the center of Mystic Falls. Kol promised to keep an eye on their spoiled sister.<p>

He left them in the condo and went to grab some coffee before going back to the mansion and talking with the policemen. He wasn't a coffee addict, no. It was really simple: people drank coffee, the almighty hybrids drank quality alcohol. But he couldn't reek of whiskey while talking to the police officers, so he decided that a nice shot of caffeine would do good to his bloodstream.

There was no Starbucks in Mystic Falls. It didn't really matter because Klaus always agreed with Adam Hills, a stand-up comedian, that "going to Starbucks for coffee is like going to prison for sex. You know you're going to get it, but it's going to be rough."*

So he just went to the first ordinary coffee shop he encountered and rolled his eyes when the ladies by the window sighed, _look at that lips, look at that leather jacket, look at that ass_ (seriously? Klaus snorted), _I could do him right now on this table_. That made him chuckle inwardly.

It's so hard to be an eternal badass eye-candy—

_then he collided with somebody_

— holy fuck!

He gulped and his eyes widened in shock.

She blinked. _Is this a kind of cruel jok__—_

"Caroline." He whispered.

There she was, wearing a lovely blue dress, holding a cup of coffee, looking at him, standing there speechless. As far as they knew, the Earth stopped moving. Time stopped. Pandas ceased to die. They were stuck in a freeze frame shot. Everything just froze including Mr. Klaus Mikaelson and Miss Caroline Forbes.

Of all the coffee shops, in all the towns, in all the world, he walked into that one. Welcome to _Coffeeblanca_, damn it.

Then a coffee cup went down with a loud _splash_! and Caroline shook her head.

Coffee spilled all over the floor.

She pushed past him and dashed outside. So much for the caffeine rush.

* * *

><p>Kol and Damon met outside the Grill and winced as they saw each other. Both wearing black.<p>

_Oh how villainy. Feel the disaster coming._

"Couldn't keep your hands off Barbie for too long?"

"Couldn't keep your arsonist away from my house?"

They stood in angry silence, sulking like a couple that returned from their honeymoon and there was no honey left for them.

"If you lay a finger on her— " Damon started.

"If you lay a finger on _my_ _sister_ again," Kol cut in and took a threatening step forward, "I'll tell our sweet Caroline who inspired me to serve her up that grand piece of mindfuck."

Damon's face froze as well as his icy-blue glare.

"And mind you, if I want to see Caroline, I will." Kol swaggered into the bar, hoping that Jack Daniels would bolster up his courage (and chase away the guilt that racked him) before actually seeing the blonde.

* * *

><p>There was a knock on the door. Rebekah's surprise couldn't have been bigger when she saw Stefan Salvatore himself standing outside her apartment.<p>

"May I come in?" He asked politely.

"If you are here to give me another bashing," she sighed, "just go away, Stefan."

"I'm here to talk. I know you're devastated."

"Sure you do." She snorted. "I am also freaking angry, frustrated and— " her voice cracked a little, "— and all alone."

Stefan tilted his head to the side and waited patiently.

"Come in."

He entered the apartment and raised his eyebrows. It was just a simple condo. No neoclassical columns or marble, no flamboyant chandelier in sight. Just three small empty rooms, a wooden floor and a lot of dust everywhere.

"Did you start living like ordinary people?" He couldn't help it.

"The more you've got, the worse you feel after losing it." She said and threw Stefan totally off balance. Was the Apocalypse approaching? Considering her attitude now, it was one step away from breaking out.

He goggled at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's right." She shrugged. "Since she's been back, everybody treats me like a stranger. With _contempt_. Even the school committee agrees with everything I say because they don't want to put up with me."

"But I'm sure it's only— "

"No, Stefan. I am sure it will stay that way." She turned away to avert his eyes.

"Have you thought that— I don't know— maybe an apology would work?"

"Are you nuts?" Rebekah scoffed. "Besides, I'm not truly sorry."

"She's broken, Rebekah." Stefan put hid hand on her right shoulder in the famous Stefan's-encouraging-gesture.

"My family is broken, too." The girl sniffed and Stefan's heart sank for a moment.

"Fix one thing at a time." He said, putting the other hand on her left shoulder. "There's no other way."

Her sparkling eyes widened in confusion as she looked at his attentive face. Her dear Stefan. After all the things they had been through, Stefan still cared about her, even if only for old times' sake.

* * *

><p>Caroline slammed the door shut and rushed to her bedroom, then jumped on her bed face down and stayed this way, laying down for about an hour.<p>

Finally she raised her head, blinked once or twice, looked at Klaus' sketch still hanging over her dresser... and buried her face in the bed covers again.

Frustration and anxiety got the better of her.

He was back. Klaus was back.

_Nik_ was back.

No, she told herself, _Nik_ had been gone the moment she'd been told the truth.

Had _Nik_ existed at all? Had he been real?

She buried her worried face in her hands. She had been working so hard to find some peace of mind lately. It had been fairly good so far. Now she managed to sleep without waking up in the middle of the night screaming bloody murder. She could now walk around the town without sniveling in dark corners. Caroline Forbes could even drive her car without looking in a wing mirror to make sure he wasn't behind her.

And it was all in vain.

One glance at him was enough to make he re-live every day she'd spent in Chicago.

She could swear her heart was beating like crazy.

She had a fever. Her whole body was on fire while cold shivers were running down her spine. She took off one shoe and threw it violently across the room. Then the other one.

She hated him so much. _So much. _

She wanted to run to him, rip his head off, kick him, yell at him—

_kiss him, caress him, touch him, feel him_

— and stake him right in the heart.

"You're going crazy, Caroline." She mumbled, picking up her heels and putting them back on. Then she went down the stairs, got the keys and left the house.

"Congrats, you're a full-time psycho now." She said, locked the front door, and run into the woods.

* * *

><p>Klaus was sitting on the floor in front of a fireplace, sketching. His gray shirt and dark jeans were all now stained with charcoal. His hands and face were speckled with many black spots, making him look like a Dalmatian.<p>

He was staying at the mansion, or rather in what was left, because somebody had to look over it. The arsonist apparently escaped. For now, at least, since Klaus was more than determined to catch that bastard. Or those bastards, you never know.

While the fire was cracking and consuming the wood, making soothing noises along the way, the hybrid was re-playing in his head all the moments he'd spent with Caroline, over and over again.

The nagging awareness of the short distance separating their houses now was unbearable.

She was so close.

She was just a mile away.

She was just right—

_he turned away and looked behind his back_

— right there in his room?

Klaus jumped to his feet, ready to take the consequences of his previous actions. He was sure she came to take revenge on him. He just stood there, not moving, not saying anything, prepared for the worst. His eyes darkened with fear. Like when Esther had been back. But now he was ready. If anyone should be punishing him — and yes, there were thousands of people pining for revenge— she was the right one to do it. She was his nemesis.

Caroline came up slowly to him, silent and serious. She reached to his face and he flinched, expecting her to hit him.

But her hand gently brushed over his jaw, her fingers lingered a while on his quivering lips then went up to his forehead and run through his hair. They didn't break the eye-contact even for a minute. She was looking at him with tearful eyes, admiring him like a beautiful Greek statue.

Her hand stopped at the nape of his neck.

"It's you." She whispered and pulled his face down into a hungry kiss. Klaus was so taken aback that for the first three seconds he didn't even move his lips. But when he realized what was happening, he took control. His arms closed around her tiny frame and started to roam freely over her body. _Oh how he missed her. _

Caroline surprised him even more when she yanked his shirt up and undressed him, quickly undoing his jeans as well. She wasn't even bothered by the black trails his dirty hands were leaving over her back, over her stomach, over her chest. Not thinking much about it, Klaus pulled her dress up and over her head, then threw it away. The lacy lingerie she was wearing made his heart skip a beat, then quicken its pace till it was about to explode. They fell to the wooden floor, kissing passionately like there was no tomorrow. He wanted to eat her up.

Caroline closed her eyes and moaned loudly when he nipped at her neck.

"Now." She urged him and arched her back feeling the sudden wave of pleasure when he got inside her. He felt like home. He felt safe. He meant peace.

_I see hell in your eyes_

_Taken in by surprise_

_Touching you makes me feel alive_

_Touching you makes me die inside_

Their bodies were rocking spasmodically, violently, like they both were in a hurry. Like somebody was about to take it all away from them. Like the fairy tale was coming to an end and there was no happy ending, no _happily ever after_. The way he moved inside her made Caroline's head spin. She tightened her grip on his back and her nails dug into his shoulder blades. He growled and drove into her even harder.

Afraid of what would happen next, they both wished that this moment would last forever.

"_Nik_-" She wrapped her legs around his waist and lost herself completely in the pleasure he was giving her. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he pushed into her for the last time and they both almost cried ecstatically with satisfaction. Yes, e_cstasy._ Still panting frantically, he cupped her face in his hands and captured her lips with his in a sloppy yet demanding kiss.

They were laying in front of the fireplace, accompanied only by quiet, relaxing snapping of the burning wood.

When he finally drifted off to sleep, Caroline stood up and got dressed. She didn't even look in the mirror, knowing that she probably looked like a soldier painted from head to toe with camouflage charcoal. Black traces of the crime she just committed. Absolute, conclusive proof.

Before she left the room, she shot him one last longing glance.

* * *

><p>That night another Original was having a romantic seizure.<p>

Yes, Elijah stayed at Elena's. Yes, he was standing in the kitchen with a green apron over his designer suit and in the fluffy gray slippers — yes, _fluffy_ _slippers_ — on his feet. Elena was smiling all the time and that was the most important thing for him.

Yes, he admired her, he praised her good heart, he liked her sense of humor (_she does joke like any normal human,_ he concluded, somewhat surprised), he worshiped her morals, he appreciated her figure, he adored her beautiful face, he fancied _her_**.**

She made him _feel._

He could understand his brother in that matter. _If somebody makes you feel in this crazy heartless world, this person must be special. _

Elena was chopping tomatoes, shooting him a fleeting glance from time to time, smiling to herself.

That girl was gorgeous. _She is the girl,_ he stated.

Elena wiped her forehead with her right wrist after throwing all the pieces into a big red bowl. She put the knife down and looked at Elijah. He was staring at her, hypnotized.

She let him take her hand in his.

She let him pull her closer.

She let his hands rest in the small of her back.

She let his face move closer, she let his nose touch hers.

She enjoyed his lips brushing against hers.

She more than welcomed his body rubbing against hers.

The bowl crashed to the ground, but it didn't matter anymore.

* * *

><p>The sunlight made Klaus squint his eyes and rub the last traces of sleep away from them.<p>

He was still laying naked on the wooden floor, but the fire was no longer burning. There was nothing left from the yesterday's wood. And Caroline was gone.

He stood up and went to take a shower, not putting his clothes back on. _Who cares,_ he shrugged. He looked at his phone - no missed calls, no new messages. Damn it!

After a quick and ice-cold shower he picked up random clothes (hey, a villain always looks fabulous!) and left that wing of his mansion, slamming the door with such force that it could bring the whole house down.

* * *

><p>Caroline felt relieved that Elena was absent that morning. She doubted she could endure classes with Elena's judging face behind her back. It turned out that without Elena's face it was too much anyway, so Caroline decided to leave earlier. She was on her way to the parking lot when she saw a dark figure standing by her car.<p>

_Klaus_, she muttered.

She just put on a brave face and kept on walking.

And walking. Keeping her head high. Coming closer. Breathing quicker.

"You sneaked out, love." He said huskily.

Uh-oh. She shuffled her feet.

"Don't call me that."

He frowned. "Why?"

"I'm nobody's _love_."

"I'd say quite the opposite, sweetheart— " He wanted to brush a stray curl off her forehead but Caroline suddenly ducked out of his reach.

"Don't touch me! Klaus." She threatened through her gritted teeth.

It was enough to leave him flabbergasted. Before he realized what she was doing, the blonde shut the door and drove away with a squeal of tires.

* * *

><p>Oh boy, what a puzzle she was.<p>

He was sitting in a comfy armchair with a book on his lap. No, he wasn't exactly reading it. He needed some distraction in the evening but the book turned out to be a total bore. Come on, vampires that _sparkle_? He would never ever — never! — take a book out of Rebekah's shelf again.

_Never._

He tossed the book across the room and it landed just in the middle of the fireplace.

Klaus vs Twilight = 1:0!

He tilted his head to one side and propped it up with his hand. _Caroline, my sweet Caroline, what is wrong with you, darling?_ He hummed.

As if on his request, she appeared in the doorway, this time wearing a white empire dress, the same that turned Tyler on so much. He shifted to get up but the girl was faster.

She straddled him there, her breasts against his chest, her teeth nibbling gently at his earlobe. He let out a guttural growl when her tongue wandered over the sensitive spot behind his ear.

He squeezed her breasts delicately and slid one of the straps down her shoulder.

She wasn't wearing a bra, he noticed. She wasn't wearing any panties, either.

Caroline paid him a visit with one clear goal on her mind.

"I need you, _Nik_. Now." She panted against his neck. Their hips were pressing against each other. Hard.

And no matter how much he wanted to talk about her bi-polar aka hot-n-cold stunt, he couldn't. His mind and body were in a blonde heaven right now.

He would comply with her rules for the time being because the only thing that he wanted more than his hybrid army was to never lose his Caroline again.

_I've slept so long without you_

_It's tearing me apart too_

_How'd it get this far_

_Playing games with this old heart_

_I've killed a million petty souls_

_But I couldn't kill you_

_I've slept so long without you_

He felt like home — Caroline closed her eyes — _Nik_ felt like home.

It felt so safe being right there in his arms.

He would protect her from the monstrous Klaus that lived under her bed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN 2**: There are only 2 chapters left.

**A/N 3**: LilyThorn asked me about the third series mentioned in chapter 11 – it's called _Moonlight _but is was canceled after the 1st season. Jason Dohring portrayed a cynical vampire businessman Josef Kostan.

**A/N 4**: Again, thank you for your support my Dear Readers. Although I may seem antisocial, I _really_ like when you talk to me. I fancy you all.

* Adam Hills is hilarious and you should definitely see him. So yes, I quoted the guy.


	19. So cold

**A/N: **Ok, if I ever told you that a chapter had been sheer hell to write, this one was even **worse**. So I'm sorry, but it wouldn't be any better even if I dedicated more time to this.

Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy. Even if only a tad bit.

Song: Ben Cocks - So Cold

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 18<strong>

**So cold**

_You caused my heart to bleed and_

_You still owe me a reason_

_I can't figure out why_

_..._

_Oh,you can hear me cry_

_See my dreams all die_

_From where you're standing_

_On your own._

_It's so quiet here_

_And I feel so cold_

_This house no longer_

_Feels like home_

* * *

><p>Don't get him wrong, he loved sex. Hell, there was no better thing than blood, sex and rock'n'roll. However, this time he wanted something more from Caroline.<p>

She wasn't yet another blonde piece of flesh. No, she was his Caroline.

That was the reason why he put up with those secret night trysts. But a week passed and it wasn't getting any better than that. She came, purred into his ear _Nik, I need you_, then did all those things to him — God! amazing things indeed — and then she disappeared before he could talk to her. Having a normal conversation during the day was just a wishful thinking. Caroline avoided him like her life depended on it. When he tried to make a connection with her, she treated him like dirt.

Klaus was a very, _very_ patient man, but in such a situation even a saint would eventually shit a cold purple Twinkie.

So Klaus, fed up with her games, was waiting for Caroline to come again, and then he would give her a piece of his mind.

He would restore her light even if he had to resort to violent methods. Maybe he could hammer the light back into her head.

And there she was, wearing another sexy dress, with another sexy smile playing on her lips.

Klaus' heart melted. _No!_ he muttered to himself, _not tonight!_

She came up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. There was already a party going below his waist, but his face stayed expressionless. _Not tonight, buddy. _She gave him a light peck on the lips. He stood still, just kept on looking at her. His unreadable stare was fixed on her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Caroline asked, taking a step back, her right hand rested on his chest. Klaus took her hand and pulled it off him gently.

"It's not enough." He whispered, avoiding her eyes. "Sex is not enough, sweetheart."

"What do you mean?" She snorted. He knew he upset her.

"I want back what was mine." He stated. "I want _Caroline_ back."

"But you've got me—"

"No, love. I have a mere shadow of what you were. Or rather _Nik_ has it. _Klaus_ has nothing at all."

Caroline frowned. Obviously, she was confused. But more than that, she was frightened because he'd seen through her game. And more than anything, she felt so embarrassed. The secret she guarded so cautiously was no longer a secret. It came to light and now she was exposed.

How would you feel if the skeleton in your closet got up and marched away, waving at you victoriously, laughing in your face?

The word you are looking for is: _humiliated_.

Her breathing quickened as her lips tightened.

Release the Kraken.

"Then I must break your heart, Klaus." She hissed, hiding her own surprise provoked by the name she used. He also noticed the shift in her attitude. She was back into the '_Klaus-hate'_ mode.

"You're not getting more." She spat.

He stood there, speechless. It wasn't supposed to go this way. He didn't want to break her, just to... let's say, bend her slightly?

"Caroline—" He faltered out, but it was too late. The blonde turned away and stomped off in a rage.

Kol opened the door and got inside the mansion. The hall was silent, but he heard footsteps echoing in the distance.

_Thump, thump thump—_

"Caroline!" He grinned. "I was going to ask you whether you're still—"

—she pushed past him and slammed the door shut after her with a loud _BANG_!—

"—angry with me." His smile lingered on his face while he stood there, amazed.

Kol turned his head to Klaus, cocked his eyebrow and pouted.

"Are you going to enlighten me, brother?"

Klaus just gritted his teeth.

"Let's say that this kiss-and-make-up thing didn't go as planned."

"Because she's bi-polar like me, or because she can't stand your ugly face?" Kol grimaced.

"Very funny." Klaus sulked.

"I'm dead serious, no pun intended."

"She wants Nik, but she hates Klaus. Unfortunately, I'm both."

Kol snickered at his older brother, then came closer and put a hand on Klaus' arm.

"That's funny, bro. And to think, till this moment, I've wished so badly I could be at least one of them."

* * *

><p>Rebekah was trudging through the woods. <em>Fuckin' branches<em>, she thought ducking under another tree, _they'll ruin my shirt. _He jeans got stained with mud and she could equally well just throw her shoes away, they were totally damaged.

_What a fool am I_, she muttered, _why am I doing it?_ Yes, she was on her way to Caroline's. She decided to talk to her, even if it meant another argument with Miss Kiss My Ass. She giggled inwardly at the name.

Rebekah was doing it for Stefan. He still cared. And if it was the only way to make amends with her brothers, then let it be.

The blonde Original had to swallow her pride and say one word. It couldn't be so hard, right?

While she was waging that inner war inside her head, something was watching her from behind a tree.

Rebekah felt a sudden whizz of air and then something sharp sank into her neck.

Her vision got blurred. She felt funny. She felt... _high_.

A silhouette of a man appeared in front of her.

_I see a little silhouette of a man! Scaramouch, scaramouch will you do the fan-dang-oh? _She sang and giggled stupidly. Oh look, a tree. _Thunderbolt and lightning very very frightening meee_—

Before she could scream for help, everything went black.

* * *

><p>"I should move out."<p>

"No, please don't."

"It will be better that way."

"No, it won't!"

"Elena—"

"Elijah!"

He wanted to say something, to argue with her, to leave her for her own good, but hey, what could he do when his lips got blocked with hers and she clung to him in a longing, breathtaking embrace?

She loosened his elegant, navy blue tie.

He tightened his grip on her waist.

She'd been torn between two brothers for too long.

He'd been the honorable one for too long.

She needed a real man by her side.

He needed this miracle to happen.

* * *

><p>Klaus entered his mansion again after paying a nice little visit to a blood bank. No, this particular leopard hadn't changed his spots. He just wanted to stay on Mrs. Lockwood's good side for a while, since his house had been burned down and he needed some support form the local community. Real support, not a vervained one. Compelling the town would be like shooting himself in the foot.<p>

The hybrid sniffed. Something wasn't right there.

He tiptoed across the hall and looked around. Someone else was there, he could smell him.

And her.

_Rebekah_, he whispered.

And darted to a half-burnt, now empty dining room.

Klaus stopped right in the doorway when he saw his sister chained down to a chair with silver chains. She seemed to be in pain but also drugged like hell, so maybe she wasn't aware of all the torture.

"One step forward and she's dead." A familiar voice resounded in the room. There he was, standing behind the chair, with a white oak stake pressed to Rebekah's chest.

"Tyler." Klaus spat.

"Long time no see." Tyler smirked.

"What's going on? I see pink ponies." Rebekah mumbled, her head hanging low.

"Cute, isn't she?" Tyler teased Klaus. "My girlfriend was cute, too. Until you put your filthy hands on her!"

"Don't you even dare to touch her—" The Original hissed through the gritted teeth, but Tyler just laughed into his face.

"Or what? You will take away everything that matters to me? Too late!" Tyler lashed out. He looked so angry, so hurt, so _desperate_ that Klaus started to worry about his sister's well-being.

"Put the stake down." Klaus commanded. Tyler's hand didn't move an inch.

"Surprise, surprise." He sang. "Guess what I was doing while you were _taking care_ of my girl far away in a great city?"

Klaus gulped.

"No sire bond for me, and not for you, not anymore." The satisfaction Tyler felt was incomparable to anything he'd ever experienced. However, it was a bitter, sad feeling. He'd lost everything in exchange for his freedom.

The stake pressed even harder against Rebekah's chest and the girl whimpered. Klaus flinched. He knew he had to be careful with this one. Tyler was actually dangerous to them. Unbridled fury and unstoppable desire for revenge were driving him like hard drugs. Klaus saw it in Tyler's eyes, they were cold and calculating. The Lockwood boy was long gone. The beast was there, waiting for the hunt.

* * *

><p>There was a way of dealing with all those Klaus-related feelings. It was called 2D's: delusion and denial.<p>

**Delusion**: **a belief held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary.**

_There is no Nik. Therefore, there's no Klaus either._

**Denial**: **a defense mechanism in which a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to accept and rejects it instead, insisting that it is not true despite what may be overwhelming ****evidence.**

_So I don't have feelings for any of them!_

She popped another french fry into her mouth and kept on watching her favorite tv series.

"Show him, Buffy!" She mumbled with her mouth full.

Then Spike got all serious and Caroline heard him say,

_Buffy, shame on you. Why does a man do what he mustn't? For her. To be hers. To be the kind of man who would nev— To be a kind of man. And she shall look on him with forgiveness. And everybody will forgive and love. And he will be loved. So everything's okay, right? Can we rest now, Buffy? Can we rest?_

Then Caroline saw Spike turn around to face her. He knocked gently at the tv screen from the inside and asked her, _Can you rest now, Caroline?_

"HOLY SHIT!" Caroline screamed and turned the devilish device off.

She sat down on her bed, panting heavily.

Can you rest now, Caroline?

_No, not yet_, she thought and run down the stairs, resolved to do something... probably something stupid.

* * *

><p>"Don't do anything stupid, Tyler." Klaus warned him. He could swear a drop of sweat trailed down his forehead.<p>

"I guess it's just fair. Your pretty sister ruined Caroline's life, don't you think she deserves to be punished?" Tyler raised his eyebrows and shot his former master a cynical grin.

The stake started to hurt against Rebekah's skin. She let out a tear. Her brother's heart sank.

"Ah-ah! No touchy." Tyler said when Klaus' hand twitched.

"What do you want?" The Original was running out of patience for that young son of a bitch.

"I want to see you suffer. I want to see how you look when you lose the person you love. Just like I lost my girlfriend because of another whim of yours!"

The air got incredibly heavy between them. Rebekah shuddered. The world was spinning around her head and the stake was so close that a slight push was enough to break the skin.

"She wasn't a whim!" Klaus yelled and Rebekah stifled a sob. The stake grazed her skin, almost drawing blood.

"Everything is nothing but a whim for you, you sick bastard!" Tyler growled.

"Not Caroline." Klaus said, trying to calm himself down.

"Sure. That's why she's lost her mind? Because you care?"

"Please—" Rebekah whispered. The mixed of drugs and vervaine still affected her. She squeezed her eyes shut and bit on her lower lip. She was going to be okay. She was going to make it through. The stake would never kill her. Somebody was going to save her.

Tyler's grip on the stake tightened. It filled her with absolute horror.

"I was going to give her everything, Tyler. Everything." Klaus stuttered.

"How touching. But instead you took everything from her." Tyler straightened up and raised the stake. "So it serves you right." He spat and took a swing.

"Bekah!"

Then the time slowed down.

Like in a slow motion, Tyler's body was yanked back—

and thrown against a wall.

Klaus saw Tyler fly across the room and crash on the floor.

The stake landed on the ground right under Klaus' feet, yet he didn't waste time on taking it, he rushed to his sister. The silver chains burned his hands but he didn't rest until she was free from them. The girl was so weak.

"Nik, the ponies ran away." She mumbled, tilting her head to one side, her eyes remained closed.

Tyler stood up looking for the weapon, but the stake was no longer on the ground.

She was holding it.

"Caroline?" His eyes widened.

"Leave them alone, Tyler." She said firmly.

"That bitch took your memory away, made your life a living hell, and you _defend_ her? What's wrong with you?" He was fuming.

"Those days in Chicago," Caroline said calmly, "were the best days in my whole life." Tyler was about to say something, but she shushed him with a gesture.

"Don't tell me I was living a lie down there. We all live a lie here in Mystic Falls, pretending to be human while the truth is, we'll never fit in again."

"This isn't you, Caroline." Tyler whispered.

"I was happy in Chicago. I was at peace.'' A fleeting smile appeared on her face. ''Deep down my heart I didn't want to be found. Then Damon came and turned my life into hell again. I've been stuck in limbo since then.'' Her chin quivered. ''I hate myself because it's so selfish to want that life back. Yet I just can't stand the one I have here."

That was it.

Everyone in the room was watching her in silence.

Caroline felt like during one of those sing-and-dance contests where the audience expects you to tap dance in order to win.

She would gladly tap dance in front of surprised Tyler, astounded Klaus, and doped Rebekah, but by observation of what was going on she reached a conclusion that it would be inappropriate to tap dance now.

Besides, she didn't know how to tap dance.

"I can't believe it. I loved you." Tyler quavered.

"I know. And I loved you like crazy, Tyler." Caroline said.

A tear rolled down her cheek. For the first time since she'd come home, she actually felt something. And it was... _wonderful_. Although it hurt so much, although it was killing her, it also felt _good_. Alive. She was feeling again. After all those things she'd been through, she was able to feel again.

The tear dropped on the floor.

Caroline smiled bitterly.

"Like a crazy teenager." Her voice was trembling. "But I'm not _her_ anymore. And I'm sorry."

It felt like the calm after the storm. She could see the rainbow up there and feel a rush of clear, crisp air. She was free. The burden she'd been carrying all these months was no longer on her shoulders. She could breathe again.

Klaus was standing there completely speechless.

Dumfounded. Perplexed.

All the things she'd just said and done left him stupefied.

"Take me to the ponies, Nik." Rebekah murmured dreamily, still sprawled on the chair. "The ponies are waiting."

* * *

><p>AN 2: I quoted Spike from the episode _Beneath You_. The definitions of delusion and denial come from the Wikipedia.

A/N 3: Find me at liarfaker(.)tumblr(.)com – I made some banners for the story. Yeah, I've got a lot of uni work to do so I waste my precious time doing banners instead. _Procrastination_ _forevah_!

A/N 4: Just one chapter left. I can't believe it.

**Feel nostalgic enough to leave a review.**


	20. Perhaps perhaps perhaps

**A/N: **Songs: Doris Day – Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps & Imelda May – Inside out

Soooo... This is it, guys.

We had some dirty tricks, some lies, some drama, some love, and some humor. It's time to say goodbye to this story.

You can wave it goodbye in a _review_! (your last chance, I'm just sayin'.)

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for your support through all of the 19 (20) chapters. <strong>

**To put it simply, you're amazing. **

**Read to the very end.**** :)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19<strong>

**Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps**

_You won't admit you love me _

_And so how am I ever to know _

_You always tell me _

_Perhaps perhaps perhaps _

Elena woke up, but stayed in the bed with her eyes closed. The morning light was penetrating her room through the curtains. She tilted her head to the other side and smiled to herself. She knew she wasn't alone. Somebody's eyes were fixed on her sleepy face. She fought a need to look at him. Let him have a few more minutes of a morning bliss.

After a while, she finally stirred in the bed, turned her head to the left and opened her big brown eyes. He was lying next to her.

"Good morning." She yawned, still smiling.

"Good morning, Elena." He said, still focused on her face.

She realized he was afraid of the 'morning after' issue. A thousand years old vampire had qualms about sleeping with a teenage girl. Or, as he would said it, a young, blooming woman.

Elena rolled to her side and faced him. He took in the sight of her body covered with the white sheets, her bare collar bones hypnotized him. He could stare at her forever, getting more and more intoxicated by her scent. _Oh what a night it was._ He shivered with excitement at the mere thought of them together, rolling in the bed. Tossing and turning. Moaning. Panting.

But she was just a girl, so fragile, and now he wondered how she was going to react. Would she yell at him or feel ashamed? Or maybe she would tell him it was a mistake, because she still loved one of the Salvatore brothers?

He dreaded this conversation. Elijah feared it so much that decided to start it first.

"Elena, if you think it was a mistake, I—"

She silenced him by gently putting an index finger on his lips.

"Shush! Perhaps it was the best mistake in my life." She whispered with her wide, keen smile.

The greatest mistake is to live in paralyzing fear of making one.

* * *

><p><em>A million times I've asked you <em>

_And then _

_I ask you over again _

_You only answer _

_Perhaps perhaps perhaps _

"We're making a mistake! A giant fuckin' mistake!" Damon raged while Stefan was sitting calmly in the armchair by the fireplace. His brother cursed loudly and threw a glass of bourbon into the fire.

"It's her choice, Damon." Stefan aka new Yoda (_Soda_ didn't sound as cool as Brangelina, he thought) was a perfect picture of an undisturbed stoicism.

"You just say so because you have a soft spot for that blonde Original bitch!" Damon didn't cease fire. Rebekah told Stefan what happened with Tyler, Stefan told his brother, and Damon blew a fuse. He just couldn't let Caroline have feelings for that Original serial killer. He couldn't stand it.

"He and his family brainfucked her! No wonder she's feeling lost." He reasoned.

"She's rather miserable and depressed— "

"My words exactly!"

"— because she's living a life she doesn't want."

Damon clutched his head and started to tear his hair out.

"Are you serious? Do you really think she'd be better off with him?" _I'm the last sane person in this town_, he thought.

"I know Klaus better than you do.("Yeah, I don't exactly envy you." Damon muttered and Stefan shot him the-serious-Stefan-look.) The thing is, if he does something, there's no way back. Do you understand?"

"There must be a way back!" Damon almost squeaked.

"No, Damon. And she'll never be the same. Accept it."

"You were turned into the Rippah (_yup, he said it with the accent_) but you came back."

Stefan remained silent. It wasn't as easy as one would think. When Klaus takes you on such a journey, you come back different. Even if you look the same and try to live your old life, you can't. Not entirely.

He affects you like nuclear radiation.

He changes a part of you forever.

"Why do you care so much, Damon?" Stefan deftly changed the subject. "You used to treat her like trash."

"I've changed my mind." The older Salvatore sulked.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" The-serious-Stefan-look evolved into the-grave-Stefan-look.

Damon's jaw tensed. Something like, _my contribution to her now-demented state of mind has been more than generous?_

"No." He spat and went upstairs.

Stefan fell into a reverie and sank even deeper into the armchair. The Originals displayed an unfortunate tendency to wipe off every trace of normality that was left for him. He took his cell-phone out of the pocket and dialed Rebekah's number.

Just to check if she was all right. No sentiment at all. _Of course._

* * *

><p><em>If you can't make your mind up <em>

_We'll never get started _

_And I don't wanna wind up _

_Being parted _

_Broken-hearted _

"My head. Is killing. Me!" Rebekah whined.

Well, that's how drugs mixed with vervaine work. They might dull your senses, but when the senses come back, you'd better prepare yourself for a bumpy ride.

She was lying on a leather couch, dressed in her pajamas, with a soothing compress on her forehead.

Kol, sprawled on the floor, was zapping from channel to channel. Their apartment in Mystic Falls wasn't bad, he had to admit it, but staying with Bekah for too long might result in death. Or two.

"I can't believe there's no _Buffy_ today." He pouted.

"Seriously? That dumb blonde?" His sister made an effort to roll her eyes.

"Why am I even surprised? It's your target, after all." She snickered.

"Careful with words, Bekah." Kol frowned.

Rebekah gave him a searching look. He was still her crazy brother, but something about the way he spoke of Caroline made her wonder...

"I still hate her." She grumbled quietly.

"She saved your life." Kol flipped through another channel. Baseball match? Why not, he liked to swing a baseball bat _from time to time._

"That makes me hate her even more." The blonde took the cloth off her forehead and tried to sit straight, but failed spectacularly and plopped onto the couch again like those funny toys.

"Because you owe her?"

"Yes! Even if she did it for Nik." She groaned. Kol's expression clouded over, becoming somber. Rebekah noticed how he got all gloomy in an instant. She sighed.

"Have you two talked about all that crazy stuff that happened between you two?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I've messed enough with her head." His face didn't give away any detail as to what he was thinking about.

Then he shrugged. "What could I tell her, really? Don't you know me at all, Bekah? Even _I_ know I'm bi-polar batshit insane."

"Tell me who isn't in this goddamn town." His sister pouted.

Kol just grimaced. Rebekah was right. This town was much more than just a little drop of poison.

"Feeling guilty?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"Never."

"Feeling... something for her?" She raised both her eyebrows now.

"No." _Perhaps_.

"So?" She pressed him.

"I still owe her a bunch of good memories. Let it stay that way."

"Men." She spat in exasperation. "Never expressing their feelings clearly— "

Then her phone rang. _Stefan_?

She got up to her feet in a second — the pounding in her head miraculously ceased — and dashed as fast as lightning to her small bedroom, shutting the door with a loud _slam!_ making her brother jump.

"Women." Kol shook his head in disapproval. "Always expressing their feelings _too_ clearly."

* * *

><p><em>So if you really love me <em>

_Say yes _

_But if you don't, dear, confess _

_And please don't tell me _

_Perhaps perhaps perhaps _

The evening wasn't as lovely as the morning since it started to rain. Heavily. A cloudburst. A freaking flood. The rain was playing a triumphal march against the windows. She'd been sleeping almost all day after the incident with Tyler. Now it was the time to sort out the rest of affairs. She made a phone call and then took a long shower. Caroline just put a pair of jeans and a black tank top on when she heard a knock on the front door. She trudged barefoot down the stairs, afraid of what was about to happen. What might happen. And what might not.

He was standing on the porch, in his usual attire, soaked to the skin.

"You called. I'm here." He said, his face tense, serious. A raindrop fell off his nose.

"I thought it would be too dramatic if we met in the woods in the pouring rain." She cracked an uneasy smile and gestured at him to come inside.

Klaus — as silent as the grave— left a trail of puddles throughout her whole house.

"Oh." Caroline sighed when she saw the dripping water that was spilled over her soft carpet. "Let's dry you off a bit, ok?" She took him by the hand and dragged him to the bathroom. He did nothing but observe her with a pensive look on his face. She sat him down on the brim of the bathtub. He looked up at her with wide, expecting eyes, still not saying a word. The girl took a bath towel and started to dry his head with it.

"There you go!" She smacked her lips when his dry head emerged from the fluffy abyss. Klaus just stared at her intensely, making her slightly uncomfortable.

Caroline exhaled and sat down on the edge next to him. He looked so defenseless, sitting there slumped and totally drenched. Like a sad, wet puppy. One hell of a puppy, but still a puppy.

They were sitting in this awkward silence for five minutes or so, both searching for the right words, but nothing came to mind.

She reached slowly for his hand, hoping that he would take hers. He did. He took it gently and covered her palm with his. _The first step_, she thought relieved, _at least it's something._

Klaus took a hint. His hand held hers tightly as he said,

"All those things I've said and done in Chicago—" he took a breath, "I meant all of them. Everything on my part was genuine, Caroline."

"I know." She studied his face for a second and felt _reconciled_ with him, and with herself. They were exactly as they were. Nothing less and nothing more.

He seemed so agitated and troubled when he turned to her.

"Do you feel anything for me, Caroline?" He gritted his teeth, still holding her hand.

"Yes." She admitted.

"Do you _love_ me?"

Caroline gasped. This shot her right in the heart. Did she love him? He was waiting for one, honest answer to clear the air. One word to somehow determine the rest of his life.

"Perhaps."

Klaus' face darkened. He needed more answers. He needed to solve the puzzle once and for all. As they say: no risk - no fun, no pain - no gain. He gathered all the strength he had and mustered _the_ words. _The_ _words_.

"I love you, Caroline." He said slowly and carefully, looking straight into her blue, scared eyes.

"I need to know if you want me to stay."

She broke the eye-contact and looked down at her feet. That was never a good sign. He felt his hope wither away.

"No, I don't want you to stay." She whispered.

Her hand was set free from his grip as he got up. Klaus was about to take a step forward and walk away when Caroline's hand wrapped around his wrist.

"I want you to take me to the French Rivera."

His shocked stare bored into her, his mouth hung open. _Pardon me? _Caroline stood up, closed the space between them in one wide step, and took his other hand in hers. They were standing in her bathroom, holding hands, looking at each other. He — soaked to the skin, with water dripping from his clothes. She — smiling at him warmly, with the eyes full of _light_ again.

"Paris is so last season." She winked at him. Klaus just squeezed her hands tighter, pulled her to his wet, cold body, and rested his chin on her forehead.

Caroline smiled, leaning against his chest. He felt like home.

And there he was.

Feeling complete.

* * *

><p><strong>THE END<strong>

(I don't know what to do with myself now.)

**CAST **

(in no particular order)

**Caroline** Seriously? **Forbes**

**Klaus** I'll tear out your liver **Mikaelson**

**Kol** Relaaax Dahlin' **Mikaelson**

**Elena** I don't know **Gilbert**

**Elijah** You can't beat me **Mikaelson**

**Rebekah** Strumpet **Mikaelson**

**Damon** Eternal Stud **Salvatore**

**Stefan** The Rippah **Salvatore**

**Tyler** Dude **Lockwood**

**Bonnie** I do mojo **Bennet** (guest appearance)

* * *

><p><em><strong>...<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>

_Love, it's a crazy _

_Make my heart go upsy-daisy_

_Make my blood flow not so lazy_

_'Cause I love you inside out_

"You know, a fortune teller told me once that we'd end up together."

"A fortune teller?"

"Yeah, at a funfair in Mystic Falls."

"Oh. OH."

"What?"

"Nothing, love. See? Even the cards are on our side."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** *sniff*

I've got some new ideas for short and longer fan fics, so if you're interested, keep up with me at tumblr **(liarfaker** tumblr com)


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